Come What May sequel to Because You Found Me
by obi's girl
Summary: Summary: Five months after Peter left with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every
1. Chapter 1

Come What May - Chapter 1

By obi's girl

Summary: Five months after Peter "left" with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every day he's gone, Claire begins to doubt that he'll come back.

It had been exactly five months, six days, eleven hours, ten minutes, and two seconds since the last time Claire had seen Peter before he literally vanished in front of her with his new mentor, Claude Rains. The minutes and the seconds probably varied, but one thing Claire was certain of: she wished Peter, her hero, would return to her.

After Peter had left with Claude, everyone had pretty much gone back to his or her normal life. Isaac continued to paint, of course; Nathan won his election and became a congressman; Matt went back to his wife in L.A; Audrey returned to the Bureau, although she was demoted to smaller assignments after Sylar had finally been captured. Ando and Hiro rented an apartment not far from Isaac's studio. Ando had quickly adapted to New York life, and would often drag Hiro to many city nightclubs, with the ultimate goal of picking up women.

As for Claire, Nathan reluctantly took her into his home. He had to explain to Heidi about Peter, Claire, and their small group super friends. She found his story incredible and thought he was coming down with something until he told her that he also had an ability himself—and that that was the reason why he had survived the accident that left her paralyzed and wheelchair bound. Heidi couldn't believe the last part, but after thinking it over, it made sense. But instead of resenting him for it, Heidi accepted what happened and took Claire in.

It surprised Claire, but in five months, she had grown quite attached to the Petrelli family; even Nathan didn't her bother as much anymore. They both shared a love for Peter, and often shared many nights together, lamenting over him. Claire, of course, never hinted to him that her feelings for his little brother were more than a crush but she suspected that he probably already knew.

But the times Nathan wasn't home, Claire would cry in her room, wishing Peter was there to tell her that everything was going to be all right. Five months and she hadn't heard anything from him or Claude. Five months of agony, of wondering if he was even still alive. Claire couldn't take it anymore and not knowing if Peter was all right or not, was killing her.

One day, she decided to take matters into her own hands and went over to Isaac's studio, asking if he knew anything about Peter's whereabouts. The painter was surprised to see her, but reluctantly informed her that he hadn't painted anything telling him where Peter was.

Claire didn't believe him and looked through his paintings one by one, and after she had done that, she broke down and cried. Isaac comforted her and promised her that wherever Peter was, he was safe and he would be back soon.

But Nathan had promised her that many times before, and she wanted to hear that he would be back tomorrow. Isaac wished he could have done more to console her, but there was nothing else he could have done for her.

Claire took a taxi back to the Petrelli mansion, walked in a daze to her room and closed her door, sitting in there for hours until dinner was ready.

Heidi glanced up at Claire's room before joining Nathan in the kitchen. She really felt for Claire. Five months, and not one word from Peter. She knew Nathan was in the same state, but he somehow managed to hide his sorrow a lot better than Claire, and it annoyed her. Claire needed Peter; she needed comfort, and no one was there for her.

"Something has to be done, Nathan," she said to him.

"What has to be done?" he asked, going over some new congressional bills before dinner.

Heidi scowled at him, nodding to Claire's door. "What do you think, Nathan? Claire hasn't been herself since Peter left, and you haven't either," she pointed out.

Nathan put down the bill he was reading and looked over at his wife. "Heidi, it's sweet that you're worried about Claire, but honestly, what can any of us do to bring her out of her shell? It's been five months and Peter's still with off his mentor…I can't bring him back until he's ready to come back," he said.

"You know, I'm still getting used to these abilities, but you know Claire's depression isn't about her new-found ability. It's about Peter, Nathan, and that girl needs him," she cried.

"Even if I were to look for him, I wouldn't know where to look. My God, Heidi, he's invisible! I can't look for someone who's invisible."

She shrugged. "But he's only invisible when he's with Claude," she pointed out. "He can't be invisible all the time, Nathan. Have you checked his apartment?"

"Honey, he's invisible," he reminded her, "and I seriously doubt that Peter would have the time to visit his own apartment. Claude took him out of the city, remember? So wherever he is, he's probably in an alley somewhere, sleeping under newspapers with his mentor."

"NATHAN!" Heidi scolded him. "Peter may be invisible, but he's not a bum! You may not want to see what Claire's going through, but I can't ignore it. She needs him, and I have a feeling, wherever he is, he needs her too."

Nathan rolled his eyes; Heidi went to go get the boys for dinner, and neither of them noticed Claire listening on the steps, silently crying.

Peter walked cautiously across the rooftop. Claude told him to meet him at the top of the Deveaux building, but when he got there, his mentor was nowhere to be found. In five months, Peter had learned several things about Claude Rains. His invisibility came about when he was a teenager, going to school in London. At first, he had thought it was cool and exciting.

But the next day, when he woke up, he discovered that he was still invisible. His parents thought he had run away because they couldn't find him anywhere, and called his friends asking if they had seen him, but none of them knew, either. His parents searched for him for years until they inevitably gave up.

After getting over the initial shock that he was permanently invisible, Claude left London and traveled around the world. He stowed away on planes, traveling to different places he'd never dreamed of, but that got tiresome quickly, and he went to the United States, starting a cross-country tour before settling in New York.

Peter talked to Claire a lot, and Claude painfully listened to his 'love woes,' as he called them. Except to Claude, his stories sounded more like American soap operas. But he humored Peter and listened anyway. Peter didn't have anyone else to talk to but him.

As Peter crept around the birdcages, he felt a strong blow to his face and fell backwards onto the ground. Claude appeared suddenly, looking down at his sorry form as he attempted to nurse his bleeding nose. "What did I tell you?" he said. "Always pay attention. Let me guess, you were thinking about a certain blond cheerleader and got distracted?"

"I wasn't thinking about Claire," he shot back. "Why did you have to do that?"

"To teach you to pay attention," Claude said, and held out his hand to him. Peter looked at him warily and grasped it as Claude pulled him up. "You're never going to focus your ability if you keep on getting distracted, Peter."

As Peter regained his balance, his nose stopped bleeding and healed itself. He looked angrily at Claude. There were many times he questioned his mentor's methods of teaching, but after falling off a roof and nearly dying, he stopped questioning him because he didn't like being thrown off roofs and having to regenerate. That had happened at least five times in the past few months. The first time, so he could recall Nathan's flying ability. He couldn't, and the other times were really trial and error.

"There's a time and place for distractions, but during training time isn't the right time, Peter," he said. "What would have happened to you if I had been that Sylar you told me about? Your head would have been sliced open and there wouldn't have been anyone to save you."

"That wouldn't have happened, because Sylar's been captured," he reasoned.

Claude shrugged. "Well, there are other crazies out there besides Sylar," he reasoned.

Peter grinned. "Like you?" he joked.

Claude's eyes narrowed and he picked up a nearby staff, thrusting at Peter. He didn't like being called crazy, and now Peter would have to pay for his mistake.

Nathan stared blankly at the two Japanese men standing on his doorstep. Normally, if he were needed for a 'situation,' Nathan would meet Isaac and the others at his studio, but before he could ask why they were there, Heidi came up behind him and invited Hiro and Ando inside.

"Smile, Nathan," she reminded him. "I invited Hiro and Ando over to cheer up Claire."

Hiro smiled. "Heidi told us about Claire's condition, that she hasn't been the same since Peter left. We miss him too, but it's been especially hard on her," he said.

"I'll go get her," Heidi offered but as she turned, Claire was already coming down the stairs to see who had arrived.

The closer she got down the stairs, the more she recognized the two figures and came running down, hugging Hiro and Ando. "Oh my God, what are you guys doing here?!" she cried. Claire tearfully hugged him, grateful to see Hiro and Ando, but still, she wished it were Peter was hugging

"We have a new mission," Hiro said proudly. "To cheer you up."

Claire laughed and Heidi smiled, grateful to see a positive emotion in her after all the sulking she'd been through in the past five months. Claire smiled at them thoughtfully, but still felt a hurtful pang that Peter couldn't have done the same thing. "Thanks, but I…" she started. "That isn't necessary.

"Claire," Heidi injected, "you've been moping around this house for five months…let Hiro and Ando cheer you up. I hate to see you so sad and depressed, especially Nathan, right?" Heidi elbowed her husband in the stomach and he reluctantly agreed.

"Heidi's right," Nathan offered, "Moping around isn't going to bring Peter back quicker. He needs time, Claire, to figure out how his powers work. And I doubt that he's moping the same way you have,"

Heidi glared at him and Nathan looked down. Claire couldn't help but giggle at his statement. Peter didn't seem like the moping type either but the prospect of Peter moping around, missing her badly, the same way she missed him, made her feel somewhat better because at least she wasn't alone in her grief. "I'll tell you what Claire, I can teleport you anywhere you like…Is there any place that you've always wanted to see?" Hiro offered, "I can take you there,"

"As long as you're back for dinner, of course," Nathan added.

Claire blushed. There was only one place she wanted to be, and that was at Peter's side but since she didn't know his exact location, she couldn't make that request. "Um, are you sure you have a handle on your ability, Hiro?" Claire wandered.

Hiro stood up confidently and fixed his glasses. "Of course I do; I'm Hiro," he said.

"Well, if it's not too much, I'd like to see an old friend of mine in Odessa. His name is Zach," Claire answered. "Until Peter, he was the only friend I had who actually knew about me."

"You don't want to see your father?" Heidi wandered.

Claire scowled at the mention of him. Except for Sylar and Jackie's bitchy attitude, Claire hated her adoptive father more than anyone. He lied to her about so many things, her past, her ability and everything that was good in her life…the last thing she needed was to see that man. But if there were a way she could see her mom or Lyle without him being there, Claire would have agreed to that. "No," she said simply, "I'm not ready for that yet. Just take me see Zach, Hiro, and I'll be happy."

Hiro looked over at Heidi and Nathan, and then gestured to Claire to hold onto him as he squinted his eyes in concentration.

Peter breathed heavily. For twenty minutes, Claude had chased him around the roof with a large staff -- all because he called him crazy. Peter knew he was, but Claude didn't let up until he used one of his powers to stop him.

And he did, except it was one he wasn't expecting to surface. It was Hiro's ability to stop time; he stopped the staff before it came down around him. But surprisingly, that wasn't the only thing he stopped.

Everything within around him froze too, including Claude. Peter was freaked out at first, but soon realized that this one of the few moments he could really have fun with his mentor and wouldn't be punished. So he carefully took the staff Claude was holding, firmly gripping it in his hands and blinked again, unfreezing everything.

Claude noticed that his whacking stick was gone and looked around for Peter, but didn't see anyone. He felt a strong blow to his stomach. Claude buckled over and then glared at Peter as he became visible, a grin on his face, and a scowl on Claude's.

"I don't even want to know what you did," he said icily.

Now Peter was sitting against a far wall, resting; Claude joined him later, after seeing to his pigeons.

"I think that's enough," he said. "So, what did you learn today?"

Peter looked at him warily. "To never call you crazy," he said, "and to pay attention,"

"And what else?" he questioned.

"To get rid of my distractions," Peter finished, "but I can't rid of all of my distractions. I mean; some of them give me focus."

Claude looked at him curiously. "Oh? Are we talking about a thing, or a person?" he wondered.

Peter grinned. "A person; small, talkative blond with green eyes and the most adorable smile," he said dreamily.

"Ah! Her again," Claude mused. "Listen, you know I like Claire, but you need to focus. The reason why we 'left' New York was so no one could bother us."

"But we haven't let New York," he pointed out. "My brother's house is a half an hour away, and Isaac's studio is downstairs. It's amazing no one has discovered us up here."

Claude didn't say anything. One of the benefits of being invisible was that no one could see you, and he and Peter had been lucky so far that no one had discovered them. But he knew they couldn't go on like that forever. Eventually, someone, maybe even Isaac, would figure out that they hadn't left New York, and then Claire would find out that he lied yet again, and she'd never talk to Peter again.

"I really miss Claire," Peter said. "I hate being so close to her, and yet, so far away. I remember the first night she stayed in my apartment; she showered, and when she came out, she was dressed in the cutest pink pajamas, and they had small pigs all over it."

Claude laughed. "You really like this girl, don't you?" he asked. Peter nodded yes. "As sweet as she is, during training sessions, you have to forget about her and focus. I can't help you control your ability if you're not focused."

"I know," he muttered, "I just wish I could see her; see how she's doing."

Claude sighed, considering his student. If seeing Claire could—and 'could' meaning a big maybe—help him focus, then he might consider it. Regardless of what Peter thought, he did like some people, and Claire was one of those people. Their first meeting was something, and she truly was a very special girl.

"All right," he conceded and Peter looked at him. "We'll see your girlfriend, but just this once. I need you focused, kid, and if seeing her will help you do that, then I'm willing to let you see her."

Peter smiled but frowned, sensing a big 'but' coming. "However, this isn't going to be a big reunion for the two of you; no flirting or getting cozy with each other. You stay invisible, you see her, your brother and your family if you want, but after that, you're gone and back to business. What about it?" he said.

"Fair," Peter agreed. Even if he couldn't talk or touch Claire, just seeing her again was enough for Peter. And later, after he had control of his power, he could finally be with her.

Claire couldn't believe it, but she was actually standing in front of Zach's house with, Hiro beside her. She smiled at Hiro before walking up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. She thought Zach's mom would answer, but instead, Zach did. He was dumbstruck to see Claire on his doorstep; she'd e-mailed him about staying in New York, waiting for a friend to return.

"Claire?" he questioned. "What are you – how did you?"

Claire grinned and gestured to Hiro to come closer. "Zach, this is Hiro Nakamura; he can stop time and teleport," she explained.

Zach opened the screen door and stepped outside, looking Hiro over. Teleportation? He'd read about that in comic books, but he didn't think anyone actually had that type of power. "So, wait a minute, you teleported from New York to here because of this guy?" he asked.

"Yeah," Claire beamed. "I needed to see you, Zach."

Zach blushed and let them inside. "My parents are at work, so we're all alone," he said. "So Claire, what's up that you had to ask this dude to teleport you all the way from New York back to the place you wanted so badly to get away from?"

Claire looked at Hiro. "Um, Hiro, I need to talk to Zach in private. Can you wait here for me?" she asked.

"Of course, Claire," he said. "Just call when you're ready to go."

Claire thanked him and Zach led her to the backyard to talk. He grabbed two sodas on the way and gave one to Claire. "What is it, Claire?" he asked. "The last time I talked you was back in November, and now it's February."

"Have you seen my family since I left? How's my mom, how's Lyle?" she wondered.

"I've seen your brother at school," he said, "but I haven't been over to your house since you left, so I don't know how your mom is... Are they the only reasons why you came back for a visit?"

Claire took a sip of her soda. "Remember that friend I told you about before when I first said that I was staying in New York?" Claire started. "He's still missing…he left New York with his mentor, and he hasn't contacted me since…Zach, I'm really worried."

"Wow, slow down," he eased. "This is the same guy who saved you at homecoming, right?"

Claire hesitated. "Yeah," she whispered. "He has an ability, too, but it's complicated…. He could have died saving me at homecoming, but he didn't because I was there."

Zach looked at her skeptically. After homecoming, there was a lot of talk of what had actually happened that night. The word around campus was that Claire was there with Jackie when she was murdered, but ran away. Supposedly, Claire didn't talk to him about her power until the next day at school on the football field, when she came raving about somebody erasing her brother's mind.

And then, less than a day later, Claire asked him to come with her to the old oilrig not far from their school and to bring his video camera. He remembered seeing her jump from the top of the rig and land on the ground, twisting her arm. But what happened next was better than anything he'd read in comic books. She snapped her arm back into place and walked away without a scratch.

Claire explained to him about what she could do, and that it was important for him not to mention what happened that day to anyone. Zach promised to keep her secret, but he still found what she could do unbelievable.

This Peter Petrelli was the first person Claire had met who had an ability like her. Zach had never met him, of course, but he supposed from Claire's description of him in her e-mails that he was a "real hottie." Zach just thought she had a crush on him, but now he was starting to get the feeling that her feelings for Peter were a lot more than a teenage crush.

Zach sighed. "Wait a minute, this guy you're talking about, he the one that was there the night Jackie was murdered?" he wondered. Claire hesitantly nodded yes. "He was the one who saved you?"

"Yeah," she mused. "Why?"

"Simple. It's a hero-rescuing-damsel-in-distress complex," he explained, but his explanation only elicited a glare from her. "You never took psychology? Never seen Star Wars?"

"Of course I've seen Star Wars...and Leia wasn't exactly smitten over Han the first time she saw him, for your information," she retorted, "but it's more than that. The three days we spent together, we bonded…there's an undeniable connection there, Zach...we even kissed three times."

Zach shrieked. "And you came here all the way from New York just to gush to me that you're in love with your hero?" he joked. "Claire, you could have written about that in your diary…why did you need to come here to realize this?"

"Because I've been alone for five months, Zach and I needed to talk to someone who understands," she said. "Nathan, Heidi and the others are great, but they don't understand me, the way you and Peter get me. If I told them how I felt about Peter, they'd brush it off as a sweet little crush, and it's not."

"Yeah," Zach said casually, "but Claire, the next time you need to talk to me, you don't need to teleport here. I would have been fine talking to you on your cell phone or via web cam."

Claire blushed. "Nathan doesn't have a web cam," she mused, and looked at Zach thoughtfully, "but it was good to see you, Zach. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, miss I-can-re-grow-my-kidney-and-no-one-would-know-about-it," he teased. "I wouldn't worry about your friend. He'll be all right."

"Thanks, Zach," she whispered. "I just needed someone like you to tell me that. It sounds so fake coming from my other 'friends.'"

"No problem, Claire," he said.

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

Come What May (Chapter 2)

By obi's girl

Claire and Hiro arrived back at the Petrelli mansion, surprisingly, less than ten minutes after they had initially left. Claire thanked him for taking her to see Zach. Even though she still missed Peter, it did cheer her up a bit to see her old friend. Hiro left with Ando, and Claire joined Nathan and Heidi in the dining room. Peter's mom, Angela, and the boys were also there. Claire smiled at Angela and took a seat next to Monty.

"You saw your friend?" Heidi asked.

"Yeah, I did," she said. "It was really good to see Zach again."

Angela looked curiously at Claire. She hadn't been over often since Peter left, but she was curious about this Zach. "Who's Zach?" she questioned, in one of those tones Dan Rather would use.

"He's a friend of mine from Odessa. He was the only one that knew about my special abnormality before Peter came into the picture," she explained. "I've known him since kindergarten."

"Oh, that's sweet," Heidi offered. "So what did you two talk about?"

Angela and Nathan looked curiously at Claire, making her feel very uncomfortable. She didn't want to say Peter, so she shrugged and flipped her hair. "Oh, stuff," she said. "I asked about my family, how they've been doing. That sort of thing."

"You saw your family?" Angela asked.

"Uh, no," she said quietly. "I didn't want to risk running into my adoptive dad."

"Why not?" Angela inquired.

Claire sighed. She really didn't want to talk about her adoptive father after everything he had done. But she couldn't figure out how to tell them without letting on about what he did. "Because...things are really fragile with him," she said, hoping that she would drop it.

Angela smiled kindly at her. "If you don't want to go back there, you're welcome to stay here with Heidi and Nathan," she said. Nathan glared at his mother, but didn't say anything. They'd never discussed a long-term living arrangement, but then again, it made sense. Claire was still seventeen and couldn't live on her own.

"Thanks, Mrs. Petrelli, but right now, I don't really know what I want," she said, playing with her food. What she really wanted to say was that she missed Peter and wanted him to come back, but she knew if she did, she would sound like a whining baby. Of course, Peter's family wanted him to come back too, but silently, Claire wondered how long she would have to wait for him to come back—and if she could wait for him for that long.

As soon as dinner finished, Claire went up to her room. Heidi said she could watch a movie with the boys if she wanted, but she didn't feel in the mood. Angela, however, stayed and watched some movies with her grandsons. Nathan retired to his study to go over some things, but Heidi couldn't leave Claire alone to drown in her sorrows. Obviously, the girl had a lot on her mind, and she refused to give up on Claire. She thought asking Hiro and Ando over would have lightened her mood, but now she seemed to be back in the same state of depression she was in before.

Heidi knocked on her door; Claire looked up from her bed and frantically hid her picture of Peter under her blanket before saying she could come in. "Hi, Claire," she said, smiling. "I hope I'm not interrupting but -- is there anything you want to talk about?"

"No, I'm fine," she said.

Heidi studied her carefully and then reached under the blanket, pulling out her framed picture of Peter. Claire blushed as Heidi looked over the picture. It was taken during Peter's graduation party, before he and Nathan knew about their abilities. "I don't know if I should ask, but Claire, do you have a crush on Peter?" she wondered.

"Why? Because it would make sense if it was only a crush? Because he saved me from Sylar and took me in when I didn't have anywhere else to go?" she questioned.

"Claire, that's not what I meant."

"I know," she berated herself. "I'm sorry, Heidi. I know you're only concerned about me."

Heidi set aside the picture and looked at Claire. "So you do have a crush on Peter," she surmised.

Claire hesitated. "I would have called it a crush five months ago," she said, "but it's not like that anymore."

"What is it like?" she asked.

Claire sat up on her bed and looked at her. She trusted Heidi, and knew if she told her how she felt about Peter, she wouldn't tell Nathan about it. Or at least, Claire hoped that she wouldn't. "If I told you something, do you promise to keep it a secret?" she wondered.

"I don't know. It depends of what the secret is," Heidi shrugged.

"I think I'm in love...with Peter," Claire whispered. "I know I'm too young to know the difference between being in love and a silly teenage crush, but I know this isn't a silly teenage crush. It's real, Heidi."

Heidi sighed. "I wasn't going to say that your feelings are childish, Claire," she said. "In fact, I've suspected for awhile now that your feelings toward Peter weren't exactly platonic."

Claire frowned. Was the way she'd been feeling all these months that obvious? But then again, Heidi was a good study; she and Peter were the same like that. They both knew how to empathize with people.

"How did you know?"

"Nathan doesn't know about this, but after he and I got married, and Peter was still living here, I accidentally walked in on Peter when he was changing his clothes," she said. "And he was so fine, Claire. Perfectly sculpted abs, the most flawless body...honestly, I don't blame you if you're in love with him. I think maybe if I had met Peter before his brother, I would have developed a crush on him, too."

Claire giggled and blushed. She'd never seen Peter shirtless, but she knew Heidi had to be right about his flawless body. The way she felt about Peter, it was more of an emotional than a physical attraction.

"I'm sure Peter's body is perfect, but that's not the reason why I love him," she mused. Heidi looked at her curiously. "He was there for me and understood me better than anyone, and he cares so deeply about people."

"Yeah, he does," Heidi agreed and beckoned Claire closer to her. Claire slid over as Heidi hugged her. "Love is patient, Claire. If Peter feels the same way about you, then it won't be too long until he comes back."

Claire grumbled. Five months was still a long time, and five more months seemed like a lifetime. She still didn't know if she could wait that long. "He loves me, Heidi, I know he does," Claire found herself saying.

"How do you know that?"

"Because we've kissed...three times actually," she admitted, and Heidi looked at her worriedly. "But we haven't ---"

"Oh, that's good," she said quickly, "because then we would be having an entirely different conversation, and I would be forced to bring Nathan up here."

Claire blushed again. "I know," she said. "Nathan wouldn't be too happy if his brother got mixed up with a seventeen-year-old former cheerleader."

Heidi laughed. "Are you kidding? His whole face would turn red ten times!" she joked. "But he only gets like that when it's something really big."

"This would definitely fit into that category," Claire reasoned.

Peter couldn't shake the feeling of excitement of seeing Claire again, but at the same time, he wished Claude would be more liberal with him and let him be visible when he went to see her. More than anything, Peter wanted to be able to look Claire in the eyes, for her see him staring back at her and know that everything was going to be all right. But after five months of practice, he was still having difficult controlling his ability. Maybe it was because of his 'distractions,' and maybe Claire was one of those distractions.

But he knew he needed to see her. Claude came to see him before he left to see Claire, and didn't look particularly happy with him. He looked like he was having doubts. "Remember what I told you: stay invisible for the duration of your visit," he said. "The last thing we need is for your friends to come after you. We're making real progress here, Peter, and I hope after this visit you'll be rid of your distractions and we can continue what we started."

Claude patted him on his shoulder and then turned to leave. Peter frowned. He thought Claude was coming with him. "Hey wait, what about you? Don't you want to see Claire?" he asked.

Claude grinned. "Oh, I do, kid," he said, "but this should be a private moment between the two of you. Behave yourself, Peter! Don't make me regret letting you do this."

Peter blushed. Of course he would behave himself around Claire. He was able to restrain himself from taking things farther with her when she was his houseguest, but then again, he hadn't loved her then the way he did now.

When Claire came back downstairs, Angela was gone and the boys were still watching TV. She smiled and idly joined them on the couch. Nathan was still in his study and Heidi had taken a nap. The house was relatively quiet—too quiet for Claire's tastes. The quietness and the fact that the Petrelli mansion was practically a maze made the silence very eerie. "What are you guys watching?" she asked.

"Cartoon Network," Simon answered as Monty kicked his heels against the couch, eating some crackers.

Claire looked at the television. It was an old episode of Bugs Bunny where the clueless Elmer Fudd was chasing Bugs. Claire used to love that cartoon, because to a nine-year-old, Bugs was the cleverest rabbit on the planet, and no one was smarter than him. Monty stopped eating his crackers and looked over at Claire. He didn't see her often, and when he did, she would have a sad smile on her face. It made him happy to see her smiling and giggly watching the cartoon.

To Claire's surprise, Monty reached into his lunch bag of prepared snacks and offered Claire a cookie. Claire looked at the offering, blushed and smiled at the little boy, happily accepting the cookie. "Thank you, Monty," she said. It was a sweet gingersnap with chocolate icing on top.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked.

"I do, much," she said, enjoying her little treat. Heidi watched the scene from the kitchen and smiled. Claire was finally coming out of her shell.

Nathan came up behind Heidi, nearly startling her. She blushed and turned back to look at Claire and the boys. Thank god for Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd! Heidi had tried everything to cheer Claire up, inviting Hiro and Ando over, talking to her and some other stuff she'd done months ago, but nothing seemed to work. At least for a half an hour, Claire was back to her bubbly personality, not a worry in the world. Heidi had no doubt that Peter was still in the back of her mind, but she was happy that the girl was happy.

"I talked to Claire," she said.

"Oh," Nathan mused. "What did you do to make her all smiles? Offer her a shopping spree?"

Heidi glared back at her husband. Nathan could be warm and caring when he wanted to be, but sometimes he could be a real jerk. "She just needed someone to talk to," she said. "You have no idea how much that girl has been through in the past five months."

Nathan idly looked back at Claire and the boys. If Claire had been through some crisis in the past couple of months, she hid it well. But then again, he grew up in a family of men, so he didn't really know how to read female needs, except for Heidi's. "So, did Claire tell you what's been bothering her all this time?" he wondered.

"She did, but she made me promise not to say anything," she said and grinned. "It's a girl thing."

"Oh, wonderful," he grunted. "Did you also talk to Claire about attending classes in the fall?"

Heidi bit her lip. She knew it was important for Claire to continue her high school education, but since Peter left, Heidi's primary concern was figuring out why this girl had become so distant and cold. "No, I haven't talked to her about it," she said, "but I will. Soon."

"You better do it soon, Heidi," he said. "She can't wait around here for Peter forever."

"Does that mean she's staying here indefinitely, Nathan?" she wondered, and turned back to him. "I know we haven't talked about this, but it's been five months. Claire clearly has issues with her adopted father and doesn't want to go back there, and to be honest I've grown quite attached to her. I want her to stay. I want her to live with us."

"You want me to stay?" Claire interrupted, standing at the counter. Simon and Monty wanted some milk, and she had offered to get some for them while they enjoyed the rest of the cartoon. But the end part of Nathan and Heidi's conversation was the last thing she expected to hear.

"Yes," Heidi said. "I want you to stay with us, Claire."

Claire smiled, grateful that Heidi was willing to take her in, but she hadn't heard Nathan's opinion on the subject. "What about you?" she asked.

Nathan hesitated, drank some more of his milk before sitting down at the counter, rubbing his forehead. Claire came over and stood beside him. She could understand if he didn't want her in his house. After their initial meeting, Nathan thought Claire was bad news for Peter. She was partially because he was forced to leave New York. "I understand if you want me to go back to Odessa --" she started.

Nathan's head darted up and he looked at her. "I honestly don't think you going back to Odessa will make you happy, Claire," he retorted. "I know I've been very distant and cold to you. It's just this thing with Peter…he's my brother. I wanted to help him, but he wouldn't let me, and now I don't know where he is or if he's all right."

"I feel the same way," she mused. "The least he can do is call or e-mail or something, but I know wherever he is, he probably can't do that."

"It's so like Peter to forget to call," he retorted and looked at Claire. "You can stay here if you want, as long as you talk to your adoptive family about it. Meaning your adoptive father."

Claire moaned. The last thing she wanted to do was to talk to him again after everything he'd put her through, but she had no choice if she wanted to stay with the Petrelli's. And she did. "All right," she agreed. "He's not going to be happy about this, though. When I first asked him, I just said I would be here for a couple of months."

"What is it about him that you hate so much? Did he abuse you, Claire?" Heidi questioned.

Claire nodded. "No, he didn't hurt me, but what he did was far worse," she said, going upstairs to her room to make the call.

Peter made it to Nathan's house, but somehow he didn't have the courage to go inside. He knew he could because he had a spare key in his pocket, the one he picked up from his apartment before making the trek to his family home. For fifteen minutes, Peter tried to figure out why he couldn't go inside, and then he realized why. As much as he wanted to see Claire and his family, there was something different about this visit.

For one, Claire wouldn't be able to see him, and he wouldn't be able to touch or talk to her, and Peter hated that part. The only human he'd had contact with for months was Claude, but he ached to see Claire, to run his hands through her silky blond hair and look into her emerald eyes. But if he went in, he wouldn't be able to do those things. The only thing he could do was silently watch her, and there was nothing intimate about that. It made Peter feel lonelier than he'd ever been in five months.

But then again, it would be a very long time until Peter would be able to see Claire again, because of his training with Claude. So he inserted his key into the lock and quietly opened the door and looked frantically around. There were voices coming from the kitchen. As he crept closer, he realized it was Nathan and Heidi.

They were talking about Claire. Peter never liked eavesdropping, but he was curious about why they were talking about her.

"Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if Claire lived here, Nathan, and we could easily make up an excuse for her staying here," Heidi said. "We can say that she's the daughter of a friend and that she'll be staying with us for awhile"

"Except it won't be 'awhile,' Heidi. It'll be permanent...at least until she goes to college," he said. "And why us?"

Heidi glared at him. "Nathan! Where else is going to do? Back home to a family and a father she can barely stand to talk about? I agree that we don't know everything about what's Claire's been through, but we can't turn our backs on her. I won't, and if you're worried that there isn't enough space, we have three guest rooms."

Peter smirked, liking Heidi's attitude. He hadn't had a chance to talk with Nathan before leaving with Claude about Claire's situation, but he was glad Heidi was standing up for Claire.

"I thought you liked Claire," Heidi spat.

"I do," he relented, "but I'm not sure that this is the right place for her."

Heidi moaned. "I'm not leaving her, Nathan," she said defiantly, "and you know I'm not going to change my mind about this."

Nathan groaned. "I know," he sighed. "All right, she stays here with us."

Heidi smiled broadly, and Peter grinned, quietly leaving the room. He went upstairs to check up on Claire. Peter easily found Claire's room at the top of the steps. It was one of the nicer ones, facing the garden, and when the sun streamed through the window, it illuminated everything in the room. There were lamps in the room but you didn't really need them when the sun was out.

Claire was sitting on her bed, looking through her cell phone. Peter gently sat next to her on the bed and glanced at her cell phone. She had her finger on her old home phone number but seemed to be at odds with herself. Then Peter remembered why she was reluctant. This was the part of the story Heidi and Nathan didn't know about.

That Claire's adoptive father, Mr. Bennet, after the events of homecoming, had ordered the Haitian to erase Claire's memory. But the Haitian hadn't erased her memory, and Claire walked around the Bennet house for months, trying to act like everything was normal, until the night she decided to run away because she couldn't stand lying anymore.

Finally, Claire's finger gently dialed. She thought about hanging up the phone but thankfully, her mom picked up instead. "Hey Mom, I need to talk to you about something. Yes, I'm still here in New York. No, I haven't been going to school." There was a pause, and Claire frowned. "Well, because it's February, and the school year is almost finished. I'll sign up for the fall. It's just that now isn't a good time, and it doesn't make any sense for me to go to school for only a few months."

Peter nodded. That was a good explanation. Claire sighed and rested back on her bed board, playing with one of her pillows. "How's Lyle?" she asked. "Oh, that's great. Mr. Muggles win any shows recently?"

Peter chuckled, and Claire turned slightly in his direction and shrugged. "No, it's nothing," she mused. "So um, is Dad there?" Claire tightly pulled on the sides of her pillow; Peter swore the sides would pop out and there would be feathers everywhere. Claire tensed up and stared at her make-up dresser. Peter looked back at it and grinned when he saw his picture, hanging on the corner.

"Dad!" she cried, bringing his attention back to her. "I know I haven't called often, but I need to talk to you about something." Mr. Bennet said something, and Claire cringed, tugging harder on the pillow. "Nathan and Heidi want me to stay with them. Permanently.

"And I want to stay with them. Why? Because this place...it feels like home to me," she added.

Peter looked at Claire's phone, and noticed that her finger was hovering over the 'end call button' and her grip on the pillow tightened. "Let me put it this way, Dad. If I go back there and people find out about me, I'll be putting you, Mom and Lyle in danger. Is that what you want? To put Mom's and Lyle's, and Mr. Muggle's, lives in jeopardy?

"I'm not hanging up until I get an answer," she said. Silence again. Claire smiled sourly and then hung up the phone, sighing. She looked over at her dresser again and her eyes got misty. "Am I right to do this, Peter?" she wondered aloud. "'Cause I don't know anymore. I miss you so much."

Peter sighed and gently moved closer to Claire, wrapping his arms around her. He knew he shouldn't have been doing this, because of what Claude said, but he didn't care. And it wasn't like Claire would know that he was there. Claire shrugged and nearly elbowed Peter in the stomach, getting off the bed and walked over to her dresser. She sat down, pulled the picture from its place and held it in her hand, smiling gently at it.

"It's so strange, Peter, but even though you're off with Claude, I can still feel you," she whispered. "I wish I could feel your arms around me now." Peter leaned back on the bed, silently watching her. "For a while, I wondered if what I'm feeling is more than a crush, but now I know it's not. I'm in love with you, Peter Petrelli."

tbc


	3. Chapter 3

Come What May  
Chapter 3  
By obi's girl

Peter felt his breath catch in his throat as he heard Claire speak those words. One of the drawbacks of leaving with Claude was that he and Claire never had the chance to talk through their feelings for each other. There was that one awkward conversation in his apartment after the third kiss they shared, but the conversation was more one-sided, like the one Claire was having with his picture. They didn't talk any more about their feelings after that.

He could understand Claire's frustration and confusion over the situation. Love was crazy like that. Peter wanted to say so badly that he loved her back, but it didn't feel like the right time. Peter sighed and quietly left her bedroom. He went back downstairs, thankful that Claire had left her door open. 

Nathan was on the phone, as Heidi sat back, intently watching him. The closer got to the kitchen; the more he realized that Nathan was talking with an attorney. It surprised Peter that Nathan and Heidi didn't waste any time, looking for any loopholes that would prevent Claire from staying with them. Peter would have loved to stick around and watch his brother sweat, but it was getting late, and he needed to get back to Claude.

The door was still open and as Peter closed it, Heidi noticed the door close on its own and she tugged at Nathan's sleeve. Nathan tried to silence his wife but finally, he gave in and looked at her. "What?!" he cried, and she nodded to the front door.

Nathan saw that it was open and he gently put down the phone, walking cautiously towards the front door. He hadn't noticed anyone coming into their house, but it was clear to him that someone had been there. Nathan signaled to Heidi to check up on the boys and Claire, and she immediately left the room to do so. He went ahead and locked the front door, and then looked around the house.

Heidi came back with Claire, who was obviously disturbed that someone had broken into the house. She wanted to ask Nathan what happened but he shushed her as he continued his search. "I checked the study and the boys, there's no one in the house Nathan," she said.

"But someone was here," he said, "No one leaves the door open on accident in this house,"

_Peter,_ Claire realized. _It was him. He was here._

Nathan looked at her curiously, as if reading her thoughts. He nodded doubtfully, but Claire knew it was Peter. After all, he could absorb other people's abilities, and he'd been spending a lot of time with Claude, who was invisible. "It couldn't have been Peter," Nathan said, shocking Heidi.

"Why not?" Claire shot back. "You know he can absorb people's abilities, which means that he never left New York to begin with. He's still here in the city."

"Hold on a minute," Nathan exclaimed. "We can't be sure it was Peter."

Heidi sided with Claire. "Nathan, Claire's right. It had to have been Peter," she said.

"I don't know why you're not even considering it a possibility," Claire cried. "I thought you of all people would be relieved that Peter is still around." 

Nathan went back to the kitchen and sat at the counter. "For one thing, we can't be sure it was Peter, and secondly, Linderman's guys are still out there..."

Heidi crossed her arms."So you think it was one of them? Nathan, as far as we know, none of Linderman's guys have abilities," she said.

"All right, that's enough. None of us can be sure it was Peter," he said, and turned back to Claire. "Besides, there's something else we need to talk about."

"What is it?" Claire moaned.

"I made some calls to find out the legalities behind you staying here when we don't even have a connection to your family," he said. Heidi looked at him sternly. "Don't worry; I proposed it as a theoretical question. Anyway, I found out that unless you have familial connections in the family, you couldn't stay here—which means you have to be somehow related to one of us, but since you're not, we'll just have to make up another story."

Claire frowned. She had hated lying since she found out about her dad, but now the situation was different. The Petrelli's needed to avoid a scandal and somehow find a way for her to stay in the house. "So, what will you say instead?" she wondered.

Nathan looked at his wife, and Heidi came forward. "That we're doing a friend of ours a favor by letting you stay here," she said.

Claire's frown disappeared and she looked at them in shock. "For what reason?" she mused.

Nathan shrugged. "You're mom's in the hospital, and things are really hectic around your house, and that you're staying here until things get better," he said.

"Sounds like a temporary solution to me," she mused.

"I know, but what else can we say about you, Claire?" Nathan reasoned. "That you and my brother have special abilities, and so do I? I would be forced to resign from office and be put up in a mental institution, or worse, be studied like a lab rat." 

Heidi came over and put a hand on Claire's shoulder. "Claire, I know that this is only a temporary solution, but Nathan's right. We can't risk anyone finding out about your, Nathan's and Peter's abilities. Too much is at stake," she said. "We all care about you and want to do what's right…"

"I know, I know," she whispered, "but the way you say it, you make me sound like I'm an inconvenience in your lives. But I know that's not the truth. So yeah, it's fine with me. Go on and lie to the world about me. A majority of my life has been one big lie anyway…what's one more big lie?"

Before either Nathan or Heidi could tell her otherwise, Claire left the room and went upstairs to her room.

Peter made it back to the rooftop of Deveaux building a little earlier than he expected, and stood there, watching the sunset, and thinking of Claire. He was grateful that Claude had given him the chance to see her, but he was still disappointed that he couldn't communicate with her. Clearly, she was confused about a lot of things and needed someone to talk to, but he had no idea that Claire had fallen in love with him.

The way she looked tenderly at his picture, and spoke to it as if she was really speaking to him, deeply touched Peter. When she said those words, Peter could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat, and then started beating so fast; he thought he'd have a heart attack. Never would he have imagined that Claire actually loved him back the same way he loved her. Then again, they'd been apart for many months, and separation does make the heart grow fonder, as the saying went. 

Just how long had it been since he was able to look and talk with Claire? She had first come to New York just before Nathan's election, and now it was five months later. That would put the time frame in February. February!! Peter panicked, and then realized that it was eerily close to Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day without the woman he loved. That was one more reason for him to be depressed. 

Peter stood there a little longer, staring at the sun set. He heard footsteps behind him but didn't move, and then a large staff hit him at the back of his neck. Peter buckled over in pain, and then glared up at his assailant. Claude grinned at him, twirling the large staff around. "That was payback for before…are you ready now to focus on the rest of your training, Peter?" he questioned. 

"I knew it was you," he spat back.

Claude raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Why didn't you turn around and attack me before I attacked you?"

Peter rubbed the area where Claude hit him. The wound had already healed itself, but the blood was still there. He felt something funny in his mouth, and spit out a tooth, covered in his blood. Seeing his own tooth fall out of his mouth should have sickened him, but it only made Peter furious. "I was distracted," he whispered.

Claude grinned. "You're always distracted, kid. That's the problem," he retorted. "And sorry about your tooth. But with your girlfriend's ability, it should grow back,"

Peter felt around his mouth, and oddly, Claude was right. A new tooth had grown back, replacing the one Claude knocked out. He wondered if Claire knew about that side of her ability. Suddenly, Claude came at him again, except this time Peter was able to trigger a different power, stopping him before the staff came down on him.

Claude struggled to break the staff free, but it was useless. Instead, he let go of it and stood back, smiling proudly at his student. The staff hovered in the air for a few minutes before dropping to the ground. "Very impressive," Claude noted. "So which one of your mates can do that?"

Peter gasped, leaning on his legs. "No one," he realized, "but there was someone in Texas. When I rescued Claire, there was this guy. He threw lockers at me with his mind. I guess I copied his ability at the time and didn't know about it."

"Speaking of Claire, how did your visit go? I hope you behaved yourself," Claude wondered.

"I behaved myself," he said and sat down on a crate. "Heidi and Nathan want to let her stay with them."

Claude eyed him suspiciously. "That's it?" he questioned.

"No," Peter said, "Claire admitted that she loves me."

"Didn't you know that already?"

Peter shrugged, flipping his hair. "We never really talked about our feelings before I left," he offered. "You don't know how much I wanted to say 'I love you' back, but I restrained myself."

Claude grinned. "I'm sure you did," he joked. "Do you know why I asked you to stay invisible throughout the duration of your visit?" 

Peter didn't say anything but he suspected, as always, that there was a reason for it. There was always a reason behind Claude's madness. "No, why?"

"Because it teaches you discipline, Peter, and right now, you need it if you won't want to blow up all of New York," he said. "But guess what? You passed the test."

Peter smiled a little.

tbc


	4. Chapter 4

Come What May (Chapter 4)  
By obi's girl

Claire cleaned off her face and went to lie down on her bed. She felt horrible for saying for what she had to Heidi and Nathan when they only wanted to help her. Claire had been frustrated for months, mostly about Peter, but there were other things on her mind now since her visit with Zach.

One of the drawbacks of her leaving Odessa earlier than expected was that she didn't have the chance to properly search the whereabouts of her biological parents. Claire made those tapes with Zach so she could show her real parents what she could do, and now, because she wasn't back there anymore and probably wouldn't be for a long while, she had to put her search on hold.

It occurred to Claire that she could call her adoptive father and pry the information out of him, but the last thing she wanted to do was to talk to him again. There was no reason for her to believe anything he'd say, but right now, he would be the only who knew the truth. Claire would have to talk to him again eventually.

"Claire," Heidi interrupted. "Can we talk?"

Claire sighed. "Yeah," she called back.

Heidi came into the room and sat down on her bed, looking at Claire emphatically. She really felt for the girl, and could understand her frustration at their current situation. "Claire, I just want you to know that no matter happens, Nathan and I are here for you. We're not blood, but we care about you a great deal, and we'll help you with whatever you need," Heidi soothed.

"Thank you Heidi and I'm sorry about before," she whispered. "I didn't mean what I said…I'm just really frustrated."

"I know, honey," Heidi whispered. "You can stay here as long as you need. There is one thing I'm curious about, though…"

Claire looked at her, knowing what she wanted to ask. "My dad," she mused. "You want to know why I don't talk about him a lot."

Heidi shrugged. "You said that he hasn't abused you or anything like that, but I have to wonder why you don't talk about him or become angry when someone mentions him," she said.

"It has to do with something he did," Claire explained. "After homecoming, I told him about my ability, and he confessed to me that he'd known about me for a long time. He promised me that I would be safe and that he had taken precautions to protect me. I didn't realize at the time that one of precautions included wiping my memory."

Heidi frowned. If Nathan could fly and Peter could absorb people's abilities, then it shouldn't have surprised her that someone could wipe someone's memory. "But the Haitian said that it was important for me to remember everything that was happening, and he told me that I had to hide from my father. So I hid, and then one night, I realized that I couldn't hide anymore, so I ran."

"And you ran to Peter," Heidi realized, sighing. "Well, I think I understand why you're reluctant to talk about him. Our memory is a precious thing, like a diary."

"Most of all, I didn't want to forget about Peter and what he did for me," she cried. "I'll never be able to thank him enough for saving me that night, and now that I love him, and he's not here, it hurts me even more."

Isaac Mendez leaned over the medium-sized canvas in front of him, a dirty rag at his side and paint cans scattered around him. For the last couple of days, he hadn't been able to paint anything, and then this morning, when he woke up, he had the urge to. After finishing, Isaac looked over the painting and remembered Claire coming over earlier and pleading with him if he knew anything about Peter's whereabouts.

If Isaac knew, he had no reason to hide that piece of information from Claire. Even though Peter was off with Claude, the dark cloud of a possible explosion still loomed over most of the heroes' heads. What if Claude wasn't successful and Peter exploded anyway? Or maybe it wasn't even Peter that destroyed all of New York? Maybe it was something else, or someone else.

Isaac shook his head and wiped his hands, looking over the painting some more. The scene wasn't any place Isaac was familiar with but it looked a girl's room, and there was a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. There was nothing in particular that stood out to him, so he grabbed his keys and went out for an early dinner.

Mr. Bennet sighed, standing in his daughter's doorway. It had been months since Claire had run away, and he still hadn't touched a thing in her room. Mrs. Bennet wanted to fix it up in case Claire came home, but Mr. Bennet didn't have the heart to tell his wife that Claire wasn't coming home, and that she had found another family.

Claire had clearly become very attached to the Petrelli's, especially Peter Petrelli. As far as he knew, Peter was still missing, which meant that Claire was probably very miserable at the moment, but not likely to go anywhere until her hero returned.

Until Claire ran away, Mr. Bennet never considered how his actions had affected her. What Claire didn't realize was that everything he had done was to protect his family and Claire from people who wanted to hurt them. Now, he was sure that his actions had driven Claire away, and that he was the reason she didn't want to come home. Mr. Bennet couldn't blame her.

Mrs. Bennet came up the stairs, carrying a laundry basket when she spotted him standing at Claire's door. She put the laundry basket down and joined her husband. "I miss her too, you know," she said.

"I know," he whispered and sighed. Sandra's memory had been wiped so many times by the Haitian; she just saw Claire's running away as an act of teenage rebellion and nothing more. Why would see it as something, anyway? She hadn't been given another reason to believe otherwise.

"Sandra…I…I just want to tell you how sorry I am for all of this," he said. 

Sandra frowned. They all missed Claire and wanted her home, but somehow, she got the feeling that her husband was feeling guilty about something else. "You know I love Claire," he continued, "but there's something you need to know about her; something I never told you or Lyle about."

"She found her biological family, hasn't she?" Sandra questioned. "I knew this would happen one day. Claire would find her parents and would want to live with them, leaving us."

"No, it isn't that," Mr. Bennet soothed, although it would have been easier explanation. "It's about Claire and me, and the company I work for."

Sandra backed away from him. "What does Claire have to do with the company you work for?" she questioned. "What does Claire have to do with anything?" 

Mr. Bennet sighed. If his superior found out about his betrayal, he would be eliminated, but Sandra deserved to know the truth. He didn't have the chance to tell Claire the truth about everything before she ran, but Sandra needed to know what was going on. "Claire's special…she's very special," he started. "She's been very special for a long time."

Nathan was passing Claire's room when he saw her and Heidi embracing. His wife sincerely cared about Claire – they had become so close – almost like mother and daughter. There was definitely a love there, and while Nathan hadn't been fond of Claire in the beginning because of her role in Peter's life, he could say now that he liked and cared about her. Nathan didn't even think it was possible that he would care about the former cheerleader, but he had. In a way, she had become like a daughter to him.

Nathan cleared his throat, breaking up the two women. Claire looked shyly at him but Heidi gestured that it was all right for him to come in. 

"Is everything all right in here?" he wondered, looking pointedly at Claire.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," she said. "And I'm sorry about earlier. I know you and Heidi are doing everything you can to help me, and I yelled at the both of you, venting my frustrations and anger…I'm sorry, Nathan."

"No, it's understandable," he reasoned. "We've all been through a certain amount of stress lately since Peter took off. Sometimes, I can't even concentrate at the office."

Claire sighed and looked at Heidi. For Claire, it was hard to concentrate period once she started thinking about Peter, but thankfully, it didn't look like Nathan had noticed how badly in love she was with him. Heidi certainly wasn't going to tell him that Claire was in love with his little brother, because she'd sworn her to secrecy.

Nathan did, however, notice the knowing glances between the two, but let it go. After all, he and Heidi didn't have a daughter of their own, and he was glad that she and Claire had bonded, and if they wanted to keep secrets to themselves, that was fine. Just as long as those secrets weren't NC-17-rated. Nathan couldn't stomach that.

"You know, it's around dinner time. Do the two of you want to go out somewhere special?" Nathan asked.

Heidi looked over at Claire, and she smiled, approving of the suggestion, getting up and grabbing her jumper off her chair and followed Heidi and Nathan out of the room.

Sandra Bennet couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had always known that Claire was special but she never imagined that meant that she had powers. Now she knew the truth, it made sense why she was so cold towards her husband. All Claire's life has been one big lie, about her background and her abilities. As it turned out, what happened at homecoming, Jackie's murder, wasn't just a random killing, but was meant for her Claire…Sandra couldn't understand before, but now she knew Claire's reasons for running away.

"Now you know everything," Mr. Bennet said. "I'm not supposed to tell you about any of this, Sandra, because of what the company would do if they found out, but Claire's not coming back and I felt that you needed to know why." 

"And this Haitian? He wiped my memory of the events at homecoming? Did he wipe Claire's memory, too?" she wondered. 

Mr. Bennet sighed. He wished that the Haitian had followed through with his orders, but apparently he was taking orders from someone else higher up. And besides Claire, the Haitian was missing in action as well. He didn't even know where he was.

"He was supposed, too, but he refused and told Claire to make me believe that she didn't remember. He made you forget, as well. But Sandra, you have to understand why I had to erase Claire's memory and yours. It was to protect my family; all I've ever done is protect my family," he cried.

Sandra rubbed her forehead and looked at her husband. "I understand that, but Claire doesn't. You need to talk to her about what you've done. She deserves to know the truth," she said. Mr. Bennet looked at his daughter's telephone, but Mrs. Bennet nodded. "No, calling her up isn't enough. You need to see her and explain everything."

"I can't do that," he mused.

"Because you might lead them to her? That's a risk you're going to have to take, but Claire deserves to know the truth and you're the only one who can give her that," Sandra reasoned. "You have to find her, and I know that you know where she is."

Mr. Bennet frowned. "Someone will probably follow me," he added.

"Someone probably will, but if Claire can do what you claim she can do and if she's around other people like her, then I don't think there will be a problem. Find Claire and tell her the truth," she said, "before we can't reach her anymore."

tbc


	5. Chapter 5

Come What May (Chapter 5)  
By obi's girl

Claire looked over the menu in front of her. Heidi sat beside her and Nathan across from them. Before leaving, Heidi had called Angela and asked her to baby-sit Monty and Simon while the three of them went out to dinner, and as soon as she arrived, they left. Nathan knew about this small restaurant in Manhattan that served the best Mexican food. Claire loved the idea.

"We used to eat stuff like this all the time at home," Claire said idly, while they were waiting for their food to come. "Mom would take a little bit of the food and feed it to Mr. Muggles."

Nathan looked at her oddly. Claire suddenly blushed and remembered that she hadn't explained about the family dog. "Mr. Muggles is my mom's little chiwawa. We got him when I was eleven, I think. Mom breeds show dogs, and the way she treats that little dog… there's more pictures of that dog around the house than of me and Lyle," she joked.

"Sounds like a third child if you ask me," Nathan mused. "The name just caught me off guard because…"

Heidi smiled suddenly, remembering the same thing."Harry Potter," she said, "Monty and Simon love the Harry Potter books."

Claire giggled. "She takes Mr. Muggles for special dog pedicures and grooming. Until we had that dog, I had no idea about the dog grooming industry. I mean, I knew a little bit from watching celebrities, but it's just insane," she cried.

The waiter came back with their orders. One taco salad, one chicken quesadilla with shrimps and steak burrito and then left to attend to another customer. "I really hadn't thought much about that dog since coming here; it's crazy," Claire realized.

"Well, you've had other things on your mind," Heidi reasoned. _Other things meaning Peter.  
_  
"But you still asked your dad if you could stay here indefinitely, right? You talked to him about it?" Nathan asked, enjoying his steak burrito. It actually wasn't good for him, but he didn't care about cholesterol at the moment.

Claire frowned and bit her lip, mixing up her taco salad. "I asked him about it, but didn't say anything. So I hung up the phone," she confessed. "It's just so hard for me to talk to him without getting upset." 

Nathan hmm'd. "I have an idea: let's not talk about this now and enjoy our dinner," he said, taking a big bite of his burrito. "Good steak!"

"Cholesterol," Heidi reminded him.

"Honey, yours has shrimps," he added, causing Claire to laugh.

Mr. Bennet sighed, looking over his plane ticket information. Before leaving, he put in a notice with his office that he needed to take care of business in New York, and quickly left for the airport. Normally, if he went on trips like this, someone else would be with him, and that someone would be the Haitian. But as it was, he had no idea where the man was at the moment.

As he passed through the medal detectors, he barely noticed the slim, dark-haired woman following him.

Claire was the first to notice Isaac following a waiter to a table not far from theirs. She waved at him, and Isaac excused himself, meeting her and Heidi and Nathan. He smiled at them all, and Heidi gestured that he join them. Isaac looked back at the waiter and he grabbed an extra chair for him.

"Oh, I worked on a new painting this afternoon," he said. Claire's head shot up from her taco salad, and she looked at him hopefully. "But it wasn't about Peter. I'm not sure what the purpose of it is, actually. It's just a room, a girl's room, I think, but that's all I can tell from it."

Heidi looked over at Claire. What were the chances that the subject of Isaac's painting was her room at the Petrelli mansion? Still, Claire had to wonder. "Is there a desk on the left and a bed set against the wall, and a vanity opposite the bed?" she questioned.

Isaac shrugged. "No actually," he said. "You can come over later after dinner and see it for yourself."

Claire's shoulders dropped and she leaned back in her chair. Isaac leaned back in his chair and studied Claire. "How have you been lately, Claire?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "I just thought when you mentioned that you had painted something new, I thought it was related to Peter, but from your description, it doesn't sound like it is."

"You still miss him?" 

Claire smiled hopefully. "It's been five months, seven days, six hours, ten minutes, and two seconds since the last time I saw him," she said. Nathan looked at her curiously; he couldn't believe that she'd kept track of how long Peter had been missing. 

Heidi looked at Isaac, covering for Claire. "We all miss him, Isaac," she added. "It doesn't make it easier for any of us that we don't know where he is, or if he's even all right." 

"Or alive, for that matter," Nathan added.

Claire frowned at him. That was the last thing she wanted to think of, but it had been a long time since she last talked to him…maybe he was…No! Of course, he wasn't dead! Claire refused to believe that. 

"And besides, if something bad happened to him, Claude would have contacted us right? So, he can't be dead," he said. 

Claire shook her head. "It's just so frustrating trying not to think in those terms," she whispered.

"None of us want New York to explode," Isaac pointed out. "But sometimes I wonder…what if it happens anyway?"

"But judging from your paintings, the explosion was supposed to take place around Election Day, and that's far past," Claire observed. "So, there's a chance that the explosion won't even happen. Right?" 

Isaac shrugged. "I don't know, Claire," he said. "But we'll figure it out, I promise. All of us." He smiled at her reassuringly.

Claire smiled back at him, but somehow, she had the feeling that even though the time of the big explosion had passed, something else was going to happen. Something very bad. 

tbc


	6. Chapter 6

Come What May – Chapter 6  
By obi's girl

Claire followed Isaac into his studio, and soon as she saw the painting Isaac described to her earlier, Claire knew that it was her room at the Bennet house. She was surprised that nothing had really changed since she made the decision to run that night, now five months ago. There was a shadow in the doorway, looking in on the room, and from the tired pose he was in, Claire knew that it was her father.

Heidi stood beside her, as she looked the painting over. It definitely wasn't her room in the Petrelli mansion.

"Is that it?" Nathan asked.

"That's the only new one I've painted," he said and looked at Claire. "You recognize it?"

Claire sighed. "I do," she whispered, looking over once again at the shadow in the doorway. "I can't believe he hadn't cleaned it up since I left…that sort of thing would drive Mom crazy." 

Heidi gently touched her shoulder. "Your adoptive father probably still hopes that you'll come back home," she reasoned. "He clearly misses you, Claire."

"Yeah," she mused, "but I'm not ready to see him again. Not yet." 

The Petrelli's stayed in Isaac's studio awhile longer, looking over the rest of his collection in case there was something the painter had missed. As they were looking around, Claire found herself fixated on a painting of Peter. He was flying, and had a slight grin on his face as the wind crashed against his body. Claire remembered him saying that he'd flown one time, but that was because he borrowed that ability from Nathan.

Claire's flying Petrelli. She wished she could experience what Peter experienced during those first few minutes of flight, to be free amongst the clouds and flying so high in the sky. Nathan spotted her looking dreamily at the painting and came over, standing beside her. "I could take you up sometime," he said, interrupting her thoughts, "if you're really curious what it's like up there." 

Claire looked at him and blushed. "Thanks, Nathan," she whispered, and stared again at the painting.

"Do you want to stay here awhile longer?" he asked. "You can stick around here if you want to. Heidi and I have ordered extra food from the restaurant for Monty and Simon, and Mom. You can stay here if you want to."

She looked at him again and nodded. "I'd like that," she whispered, looking at the painting once again.

After Heidi and Nathan left, Claire went up to the roof. She thought she would feel closer to Peter, but instead, she felt a deep emptiness inside of her. As she turned to leave, she nearly collided into Isaac.

"Oh my God, Isaac, I'm sorry," she apologized.

Isaac brushed himself off and looked at her. "It's all right," he said, looking at her. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Claire mused, blushing. "It's silly, but somehow I thought you were Peter."

The painter blushed and shoved his hands into his pockets. He could understand Claire's connection to Peter; he'd saved her from Sylar, and he was the first person she'd met with abilities like her, but Isaac realized that, if he'd had more control of his life then, he would have been the one Claire longed for.

"What is it with you and Peter?" he wondered. "The way you talk about him...it's like you're in love with him." Claire blushed and turned to look instead at the skyline. Isaac smiled and brushed his bangs aside. "So you are in love with him. I figured as much. Does Nathan know about it?"

Claire shrugged. "Everything is just so complicated..." she started.

"Understood," he said.

Claire turned and looked at him again. "I love Peter," she declared, "and I'll wait for him for however it long it takes. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm certainly not going back to Odessa."

"What about your adopted parents? You never even had the chance to look for them, and now that you're here, you have to put that search on hold," he reasoned. "Aren't you even a little curious about them?"

"Of course, I am," Claire retorted. "I've wanted so badly to meet them since I developed this little abnormality."

Isaac smiled and laughed. "You think of your ability as a freakish mutation," he observed.

"Wouldn't you?" she shot back. "I was co-captain of my high school's cheerleading squad, and all of the sudden, I had this freakish thing to deal with, and on top of that, SAT's and surviving my junior year. It's a lot to handle." 

"You've done well so far," Isaac said. "Anyone else would have tried to hide their ability and run away, but you haven't."

Claire sighed. "Just because I haven't run away doesn't mean I've accepted who I am," she reasoned, "but Peter helped me accept who I am."

Isaac studied her. "We are all what God made us, Claire," he said.

"Godsend," she whispered. "There was this man back in Odessa. He worked for my father. He said to me once that my ability was a gift from God and that I should embrace it." 

"Maybe he was right," he whispered, staring at her. God, Claire was beautiful. Sometimes, Isaac had to remind himself that she was barely eighteen, but because of all the stuff she'd been through, it was easy to forget that little tidbit. She was truly extraordinary…he could see why Peter liked her a lot.

Claire found him staring at her and she looked back at him curiously. Isaac moved closer to her and leaned down to kiss her, but once Claire realized what he was doing, she moved away from him.

Isaac sighed, scratched his head and looked over at Claire, instantly recognizing the confusion in her face. It was stupid. He knew that Claire loved Peter, and he cared deeply for her, but somehow he thought she would like him too that way. "I'm sorry, Claire," the artist whispered. "I'll leave."

Claire didn't know what to say, so she continued to look at the horizon. She heard Isaac walk away from her and the rooftop door suddenly slam on its hinges. Claire stood there awhile longer, watching the sun go down and then turned to leave but stopped short.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned.

Mr. Bennet slowly walked toward his daughter. "We need to talk Claire," he said. "I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but there are some things that I need to explain to you." 

Claire rolled her eyes and looked away. Every word out of his mouth was a big lie. He didn't even deserve her attention.

"I told your mom everything about you and I, and she persuaded me to come here and talk to you, because you deserve to know the truth," he started.

"What is the truth?" she questioned. "Does it even exist?"

Mr. Bennet sighed. "Claire, I understand why you ran, but you have to understand why I ordered the Haitian to wipe your memory. What you can do – there are people who would do anything to learn how it works."

Claire turned and looked at him. "You mean like study me like I'm some lab rat?" she cried.

"Yes, and that's why I ordered the Haitian to wipe your memory. The people I work for study people like you. They're curious about the way your abilities work, and their limitations. A long time ago, they made me promise if and when your abilities manifested that I would bring you in and they would study you."

"What happened?" she wondered. 

He smiled. "I fell in love with you. You're my daughter. I love you, Claire-bear…when I found those tapes you made with Zach, I knew that I had to protect you. If they ever found out, they would take you from us, and I would never see you again," he cried. "Don't you see, Claire? I did it to protect you, because I love you."

Claire frowned and looked at him. She had been lied to so many times it was hard to determine if he was telling the truth, but his explanation made sense. "Mom knows all this now? What about Lyle?" she asked.

"Your mother knows, but Lyle doesn't," he said. "He already thinks you're a freak."

She smiled. "All brothers think that their siblings are freaks; except that in this case, I really am," she joked but frowned again, looking at him. "All I've ever wanted is to know the truth about who I am and where I come from…"

Mr. Bennet nodded."I don't know about your parents, but I can tell you where you came from," he offered. 

Claire sighed, pacing around him. "How can you tell me about where I come from if you don't even know who my biological parents are?" she wandered.

Mr. Bennet headed towards the door and opened it. "I think we should talk about this downstairs," he said.

Claire hesitantly came toward, him but stopped when she saw blood leaking from his pocket. Mr. Bennet looked down and collapsed onto the floor as Claire rushed to his side, to support him. Mr. Bennet wanted to say something, but Claire wouldn't let him as she hurriedly took out her cell phone.

"Nathan, I need you to come here right away…my dad's been shot! Come quick!" she cried.

tbc


	7. Chapter 7

Come What May - Chapter 7  
By obi's girl

Nathan felt the color drain from his face as he put down his cell phone. The connection was filled with static but it sounded like Claire had been shot and she needed him right away. Heidi looked at him and instantly knew whatever happened, had to do with Claire. "I'll call 911," she said and went to make the call.

She heard Nathan say that there was no time for that, and by the time she turned to look at him, he was gone, and she heard a loud thunder above the house.

Candace looked over at her target; she got Bennet, and now she needed to take care of Claire. She put down her rifle and removed the extra bullets, replacing them with tranquilizers, but by the time she positioned herself to shoot, someone flew down from the sky and whisked Claire and Bennet away.

Nathan burst through the hospital doors, carrying Mr. Bennet in his arms as Claire tried to keep up with him. During the flight, he had become unconscious, and Claire worried that he would die before they even reached the hospital, but she heard him mumbling from time to time that he needed to keep Claire safe because she was his little girl. 

Claire had been angry with him for deceiving her, but now she understood why. His intentions weren't selfish or malicious-- he did it to protect her from the people he worked for. If they found out about Claire, then she would be taken away from her family and her friends and she would never see them again.

She was brought out of her reverie when several nurses descended upon her and Nathan. One of them had a stretcher for her dad, and three of them helped lay him down, slowly rolling him away. Nathan told them that he had been shot, and the head nurse asked Claire if she was okay, because there was blood covering her clothes.

"I'm fine," she said. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Where was he shot?"

"There was blood coming from his shirt pocket, but I didn't see the bullet," she admitted. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked again.

The nurses looked at each other and then rolled him away. "We're taking him to the surgery room. It sounds like he was shot from behind, and if that's true, then the bullet could be down deep. We need to remove it before a blood clot forms," the nurse explained and nodded to the waiting room.

Nathan took Claire aside and walked with her to the waiting room. Blood clot? Surgery? She couldn't understand why this was happening...she had been angry with her dad before, but all her animosity towards him now, seemed so insignificant and Claire realized if he didn't make it, then she would never know the truth about her parents.

As she sat there, Nathan left for a few minutes and came back with water. Claire thanked him but didn't drink, and simply held the cup in her hands. He wanted to ask her what happened, but didn't want to upset her any more, and instead, looked around the rest of the waiting room.

It was then that he saw Isaac running towards them. "Isaac?" he questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard the gunshot, and I rushed back upstairs to check on Claire, but she was gone," he said and turned his attention to her.

Claire stared off into space, struggling to keep it together. Nathan took him aside instead. "Claire called me and said that she'd been shot, but when I got there, she was fine but her dad wasn't." 

"Wait a minute. Claire's adoptive father is in the city? He came to see her?" he cried.

"He wanted to make amends, and I guess he had some tails. Someone didn't want him to say anymore than he should have but I don't know all the details about what happened," he explained, looking again at Claire. "Look, I need to call Heidi and my mom, tell them what's happened. Could you stay with Claire and make sure she's all right?"

Isaac agreed and left; he turned and looked at the blond before him. Claire was a wreck; he'd never see her so removed from what was happening and he doubted that his presence would comfort her. Only Peter could do that. Finally, she turned and looked at him. "Isaac?" she cried. "Where did Nathan go?"

"To contact his family," he said, sitting down beside her. "I heard the gunfire from downstairs and I rushed back to you, but you were gone already. What happened, Claire?"

"We were just talking, and then he was shot and he collapsed," she cried. "Oh God, if something happens..."

Isaac hugged her."Everything will be all right, Claire. Nothing is going to happen to your dad," he soothed. "It will all be all right."

Peter watched from a distance as Isaac held Claire in his arms. He could feel his blood boil, looking at them. Didn't Isaac feel any shame that he was taking advantage of her? Did he care? Were his feelings for Claire even real? Peter doubted that they were. Since Peter had a fling with Simone before he met Claire, he knew that the artist had been itching to get back at him. But Peter couldn't believe that he was using Claire to do that, especially since Claire didn't deserve to be used like that. She had already been through enough heartbreak in her young life.

Claire pulled away and glanced at the clock. Only a few minutes had passed since she and Nathan had arrived with her dad. Speaking of the devil, Nathan came back and thanked Isaac for watching Claire. Claire looked idly down the hall longingly and sighed. "You know, I really hate waiting," she grumbled. "Surgery usually doesn't take too long, right? I mean, it's just one bullet."

"Claire," Nathan started, "these things take time. The doctors have to be careful that they don't make any mistakes." He studied Claire again. At least she was out of the daze she was in from before, but he still worried. In fact, she looked kind of pale which was odd considering that she could heal herself. He thought that would have included keeping her immune system healthy, 24/7. "Have you eaten Claire? You don't look so good. I'm going to get some coffee and some food to eat."

Claire looked at him thankfully and nodded. "But something light, please," she added. Nathan nodded and went off in search of a vending machine.

Peter didn't want to leave Claire alone with Isaac, but he was curious about Mr. Bennet's condition. Yes, he had been there on the roof when he had been shot. He watched his and Claire's entire conversation, and her previous meeting with Isaac. He still couldn't believe that he almost kissed her, but Claire wouldn't let him, and he backed off. 

Peter found the room where Mr. Bennet was being operated on. They had him turned over on his stomach because the bullet was lodged in his back, deeply punctured through his skin.

As he stood there, watching the operation, he noticed a woman in the room. He didn't remember seeing her when Mr. Bennet was brought in but she still hovered over Mr. Bennet's body like a vulture, ready to prance on him. She languidly moved around the operation table and then backed away, leaving the room. She bumped into Peter as she left the room. Peter scowled and followed her down the hall.

The woman went down an empty hallway and pulled out her cell phone. "Bennet's at Saint Luke's Hospital. It's not far from the painter's studio," she explained and looked down the hall. "He's in surgery right now – I can't get to him and finish the job with witnesses around me. I'll have to wait until they're finished with him, and then I'll go in and finish up. Oh, and Claire and Petrelli are here too. I plan on taking Claire later, but do you want me to bag Petrelli too?" 

Peter scowled, listening to the conversation. Who was this woman and how was she connected to Mr. Bennet?

"All right, I'll take care of Petrelli later," she said, resigned. "I'll call you again when I have Claire."

The woman sighed, flipping her cell phone closed, and as she turned, she changed into Nathan! Peter's widened and he rushed back to the waiting room to warn Claire, but he didn't see her anywhere. Isaac had left as well. Then, Nathan came back with snacks and some coffee and sat down. Claire came from the bathroom and took a seat beside him, as Nathan offered her a turkey sandwich.

Peter stalked over to the woman, punching her in the stomach. The assassin cursed and tackled Peter, but he knocked her out and grabbed her blouse, dragging her away from the hallway, and threw her into a closet, locking the door behind her.

Now that was done, he needed to make sure Claire and Mr. Bennet was all right.

tbc


	8. Chapter 8

6

Come What May - Chapter 8  
By obi's girl

_Two hours later..._

Claire found herself staring at the wall. Her father was still in surgery, as far as she knew, and the fact that no one had come out to see her about his condition made her very nervous. What if something went wrong during the operation? What if it was what one of the nurses mentioned before -- what was it -- a blood clot? The suspense was killing her. 

Finally, Claire stood up from her chair and marched over to the nurses' station. Nathan stirred from his nap and noticed that Claire wasn't beside him anymore. And then he saw her in front of the nurse station and quickly joined her.

"I'm sorry, but it's been two hours -- shouldn't have my father come out from surgery by now?" she asked.

The nurse looked at her and then turned to her computer. "What's your father's name?" 

"Bennet."

"They're almost finished with him," she said, looking back at her monitor. "After that, they're moving him to a room."

Claire sighed and looked over at Nathan. All of this was too much for her... her father been shot, and she had no idea who the shooter was, or if even he was still around. She just hated that Peter was still missing, but there was nothing she could do about that. Claire swore if she saw Peter again, she would give him a good whipping for disappearing for so long.

Suddenly, she heard the emergency doors open and several doctors rolled out her dad. Claire immediately rushed to his side, going along with the gurney. "How is he? Is he all right?" she questioned.

"We need to get him to his room, ma'am. Step aside," one of the doctors replied, gently, pushing Claire aside.

Claire glared at them as they wheeled him away. How could they be so cold to her? Weren't doctors supposed to be warm and comforting? On the way, one of them told the nurse what room they were going to. Claire looked over at Nathan. He put his arm around her, taking her down to her dad's room.

Claire peeked into her father's room and then looked back at Nathan before entering. The nurses had just finished hooking him up to an IV and left to let him rest. It was a single room for recovering patients. Claire found a chair and pulled it beside his bed and sat down. She had been in hospitals too many times in her life, and now Claire realized just how much she hated them.

"Dad, I don't know if you can hear me, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry for everything I've put you and Mom through. I was so angry with you for what you did -- it never occurred to me that you were protecting me from your bosses. I was so wrong about you," Claire cried, and gently touched his cheek with her hand. "I love you, Dad. Mom loves you, and Lyle too, and the last thing I want to do is call home and tell them that you died. Things shouldn't end like this." 

Mr. Bennet stirred, but didn't open his eyes. Claire sighed, looking at her father. He was so peaceful, his chest rising slowly and falling. He was so vulnerable; he could die, and there would be nothing she could do to bring him back. Claire could heal herself and rise from the dead, but she felt useless in this situation because she couldn't heal him. What was the point of having the ability to heal if she couldn't even heal the people she cared about? It was frustrating.

Only hours ago, her father was the last person she wanted to see, but now she was by his bedside, praying and hoping that he would open his eyes. Claire had despised him for so long and now, all she could think about was saving him.

"How can you hate someone so much and love them so much?" she questioned, and laughed to herself. "I guess there really is a fine line between love and hate. Both can be so intense, so powerful, they can almost paralyze you."

Claire leaned over and softly kissed her dad's cheek, bracing him. "I see things so clearly now, Dad," she said. "As much as I hated what you did, I don't want you to die."

Claire squeezed his hand, resting her head on the side of the bed. "I need you, Dad," she whispered. "Please don't leave me."

Peter watched Claire as she rested her head on the side of her father's bed. When Mr. Bennet was shot on the rooftop, Peter wanted to help Claire, but Claude wouldn't let him interfere because of the possibility of exposure and becoming one of the shooter's targets. Thankfully, Nathan showed up and flew Claire and her father to the nearest hospital. Claude also didn't want him to go after them, but Peter refused to leave Claire alone, especially since she needed him. 

And Peter was glad that he had followed them.

While he was at the hospital, Peter quickly dispatched the shooter, locking her in a closet, protecting Claire once again. Peter was enraged when Isaac showed up at the hospital and took advantage of her – at least he had the decency to return to the studio to allow Claire space.

Now Peter was alone with Claire once again, and he figured, be damned with Claude's rules. Claire needed him and he was tired of hiding from her.

Peter slowly walked over to Claire, knelt down behind her and gently rested his hand on her shoulder. Claire's head darted up and she looked at her father, but was confused when she realized that his condition still hadn't changed. She felt the soft touch again and turned around.

Claire wanted to scream at him, but Peter quickly covered her mouth, holding a finger over his lips. She nodded and he lowered his hand. "God, Peter, where have you been?" she cried.

"I can't talk about that now," he said, brushing back his growing bangs. "I saw your father get shot on the roof."

Claire frowned and backed away from him. "Why didn't you . . . ?" she questioned.

"Claude," he interrupted. "He didn't want me to intervene and risk exposure. No one, including you, is supposed to know that Claude and I are still in the city." 

"Then it was you at the house," she reasoned. "I didn't realize it at first, but Heidi saw you leave, and Nathan, the cynic as always, didn't believe it was you. But I knew it was you; it had to have been you. It was, wasn't it?"

Peter grinned. "I was there," he admitted. "In fact, I was in your room when you first called your dad." Peter hesitated before going on. "I heard what you said after you got off your phone." 

Claire blushed and looked over at her father. For months, she hadn't had anyone to talk to about her feelings for Peter, but now she felt so embarrassed that Peter saw her talking to his picture like some love-struck kid. "Oh, you saw that, huh?" she mused.

Peter bent his head and looked at her. "It's all right, Claire," he soothed. "I feel the same way." 

Claire stared at Peter dreamily. For so long, she'd longed for Peter to come back to her, and now that he had, she didn't need to hide her feelings anymore. Claire leaned forward and lightly kissed him. Peter kissed her back, his hands brushing through her curly blond hair.

Peter pulled her into his arms as he sat down on the chair beside the bed. Claire climbed into his lap and lifted his t-shirt. She grinned and kissed his neck and collarbone. 

They were interrupted when Mr. Bennet started stirring again. "Claire?" he rasped. "Are you there?"

Claire blushed and got up off his lap, as Peter quickly put back on his t-shirt. "Dad?!" she cried. "I'm here with you." 

Bennet groggily opened his eyes and looked at Claire. He thought he saw someone else behind her. But then the figure disappeared. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Hospital," she said. "I called Nathan. He flew to my location, and took us to the nearest hospital…you fell unconscious on the way over…I thought you had died."

Mr. Bennet grinned. "I couldn't do that to you, Claire-bear," he joked. "I made you a promise and I intend to keep it."

Claire cried. "I'm so sorry, Dad. I was so cold you – I didn't realize that you were trying to protect me -- and I ran away. You must hate me for that."

"I don't hate you, Claire. I could never hate you," he rasped. "And I understand why you ran. What's happening now is not your fault, Claire. It's mine. The company wants to hurt me so they can get to you, but I won't let them do that. You did the right thing."

"But I led them to you," she said. "They know about me now. And Nathan."

"They followed me, Claire. Until you ran away, they didn't suspect that you had manifested, and then when I let you stay in New York, they realized the truth: that I had been lying to them about you. They want to punish me, Claire, for my disobedience."

Claire frowned. She never considered that the organization her father worked for was so intricate and dangerous. The Haitian told her that he worked for powerful people, but she didn't know what they did. Now, she knew. "You have to go back to Odessa and stop them," Claire realized. "It's the only way any of us will be safe." 

"I can't. They already suspect me of hiding you. If I go back there, they'll kill me," he reasoned.

"You can't stay here either," she mused. "Why does everything have to be so complicated…"

"What is it?" 

"Will you be all right if I leave you here for a moment?" she asked.

He nodded, and Claire left the room. She wasn't sure if Peter had left, but once she was in the hallway and he saw her, Peter came toward her and followed her back inside. 

"Peter's going to fly you back to the Petrelli mansion," Claire said.

Peter gulped, looking down at Mr. Bennet. He didn't know how he felt about that, but if that was what Claire wanted, then he would oblige. Mr. Bennet nodded and Peter leaned down, carefully picking him off the bed. Claire went over to the window and opened it as Peter stalked down toward it and climbed onto the ledge.

There were thirteen stories below him, and if this didn't work, Peter would wind up in a hospital bed himself. He looked back at Claire, and she smiled at him. Peter sighed and leapt from the window.

The wind crashed against him as he fell, but at the last minute, Peter dove upwards and managed to carry Mr. Bennet safely away.

Claire watched Peter from the window and then closed it, going back into the hallway. Nathan came up to her worriedly. "Hey, did you talk to your father?" he asked. 

"Yeah, I did. He's resting now though," she said. "Can we go home? I'm a little tired."

Nathan smiled and ushered her toward the elevator.

tbc


	9. Chapter 9

Come What May – Chapter 9  
By obi's girl 

Nathan and Claire reached the Petrelli mansion first, but Claire was sure that Peter and her father were on their way. Nathan wasn't even suspicious of her quiet mood on the way home, considering her mood earlier. Angela let them inside. Nathan asked where Heidi and the boys were, and she told him that Heidi took them out for ice cream. As soon as they heard that Claire was in the hospital, naturally, they worried if she was all right. But thankfully, Heidi stepped in and assured them that she was and offered to take them out for ice cream.

Monty and Simon still didn't know about Claire and Nathan's special abilities, or the real reason why their uncle Peter was away.

"Can someone please explain what happened?" Angela demanded, first looking at Claire and then to Nathan.

Before Nathan could answer, they were startled by a loud thunder over head. Claire ran to the doors leading to the garden and opened them, as Peter landed, still carrying Mr. Bennet on his back.

"Peter?" Nathan questioned, as Mr. Bennet lay unconscious on his back and turned to Claire. "Is this your doing?"

"It was my idea," Claire admitted as Peter unloaded her dad onto the nearest couch. "We need to keep him safe until Peter and I can figure out our next move." 

"Figure what out? What happened at the hospital, Claire?" Angela questioned.

Claire looked at Peter and then to Nathan and Angela. "We need to talk – there's something the both of you need to know," she started.

Claire helped her dad settle into his room before rejoining Peter outside in the hallway. She really was so happy to see him again. Five months seemed like a lifetime, and now he was back in her life again, Claire didn't want to let him go. She threw arms around him and kissed him passionately.

"God, Peter, I've missed you so much," she cried, before slapping his shoulder. 

"Ow!" Peter winced and gently rubbed the area she'd hit. "I've missed you too, Claire, but what was that for?" 

"That was for hiding from me," she said coolly, crossing her arms. "You could have at least let me know that you were still around. I thought you and Claude had left the city and were in some remote location somewhere."

"I know," he moaned. "I'm sorry I deceived you, but if you want to be angry with someone, it should be Claude. It was his idea. Claude said it was the best choice at the time. As long as no one knew that we were still in the city, no one would look for us. But know that I hated being so close to you, and yet so far away at the same time." 

Claire sighed and dropped her arms to his sides. "All right, you're forgiven," she conceded. "So, your time helped? You can control your ability now?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't think I'm going to explode anytime soon," he mused.

"That's good," she piped, smiling at him. 

Peter smiled back, staring at her. God, he'd missed Claire. Since he left with Claude, all of his thoughts had been preoccupied with her. Now, she was standing less than foot away. He wanted so badly to take her into his arms and hold her forever.

Claire noticed him staring at her, causing her to blush. "What?" she wondered.

"You're beautiful, Claire," he whispered.

Claire blushed a darker shade of red and then turned down the hall. "Come on, your mom and Nathan are waiting for us in his study," she said.

As soon as Peter and Claire entered the study, Nathan and his mother stopped talking and stared at the two of them together. Peter left Claire's side and greeted his mom and brother. Angela tenderly hugged her youngest and then slapped him across the cheek. Claire giggled, not surprised by her reaction considering that she had also slapped him in private for being away.

"Jesus, Peter, where the hell have you been all this time?" she cried.

Nathan looked back at him curiously. "Yeah, where have you been?" he wondered.

"That's not important at the moment," he said. "We have bigger problems to worry about now." 

Nathan turned his attention to Claire; she stepped beside Peter, holding his hand. "The assassin who targeted my dad, she works for my dad's company. They kidnap people like us and run tests on them. My dad's been hiding me from them, but since I ran away, now they know that he's been lying to them about me."

"So, wait a minute – your dad works for some mystery organization that track people like us," Nathan surmised. "So why didn't they just take you when you were on the roof? Why did they target your father?"

"Because they wanted to punish him for his betrayal, and then take Claire," Peter explained, "but the assassin didn't have the chance to do that because you came and got to Claire first."

Nathan shrugged. "She called me and said that she'd been shot – I thought she was – but it turned out to be her dad," he added and then looked at Claire. "Do you know anything else about this organization your father works for?"

"Not really," she admitted. "All my life, I thought he worked for some company called Primatech Paper, but now it looks like that was only a front for what was really going on,"

"If they were after your father…" Angela started, looking at Nathan. "Was it only one person tracking him?"

"I don't know," she added. "Peter dispatched her at the hospital."

Angela's eyes widened. Dispatched? Peter had killed the assassin after Claire's father?

"Oh no, he didn't kill her. Just locked her in a closet," she clarified.

Candice banged her fists into the door, making as much noise as possible. Finally, she heard footsteps walk toward the door and open it. She quickly grabbed a doctor's coat and put it on in case her rescuers were nurses on duty. Thankfully, it was Thompson. He sighed as she walked out. 

"Locked yourself in a closet?" he joked.

"Ha-ha," she fumed. "The invisible man attacked me. He's still protecting Claire and her father, which is odd, considering I thought he still held a grudge against Bennet for that one time you ordered him to kill him."

Thompson and Candice walked down the hall. "If it was the invisible man, we'll find him again and take care of him, but in the meantime, are you going to finish your assignment?" he asked.

Candice smiled. "Of course I am," she said, changing into Isaac.

Claire, Peter, Nathan and Angela were rudely interrupted by Heidi's knocking. Claire left to open the door and greet Monty and Simon. Both boys were overjoyed to see her and nearly knocked her down, their tiny bodies hugging her. Heidi smiled, thankful that Claire was all right, and then soon helped pry her sons off her and then hugged Claire herself.

"I took the boys out for ice cream. I didn't want them to worry," she explained.

Claire smiled at her thankfully. "Oh no, it's fine," she mused. "I didn't want to scare them, either."

Before they even left the foyer, Monty and Simon left to go to their father's study. Once they saw their uncle Peter, both boys descended upon him and hugged him. Claire and Heidi joined them a few minutes later. Heidi was clearly surprised to see Peter – she called Monty and Simon away and told them to go upstairs to their rooms and play. Both boys whined and then obliged, leaving the adults alone.

"Hi, Heidi," he said. "Surprise." Heidi came toward him, but Peter stopped her, holding up his hands. "You're not going to hit me too, are you?"

Heidi frowned and looked over at Claire and then she smiled. "I'm not going to hit you, Peter," she said and she walked over, hugging her brother-in-law. "So, what's been happening?"

"Claire's adoptive father is upstairs, recovering from a gunshot wound which he received from his bosses because they don't want him to talking about company secrets," Nathan recapped. "Claire being one of those company secrets."

"Oh," Heidi mused, looking at Claire. "Is there anything else?"

"That's pretty much it," she said. "Apparently, my father has been working for people who study people like Peter, Nathan and I. They kidnap us, run tests, wipe our memories of those tests and then set us free."

Peter grunted, leaning back on a chair. "If Mr. Bennet were awake, we could ask him more about this company he works for."

"Well, I think it's obvious where I came from," Claire interrupted. "My dad never formally adopted me. The company gave me to him to raise, and then made him promise that if and when I developed my ability, he would be forced to turn me over to them to study."

Heidi studied Claire carefully. "What do you think changed?" she wondered.

"He fell in love with me…that's what changed," she realized. "He became attached, and now that they know about me and what he did, they want to kill him for his betrayal and take me."

"I have some questions, though," Nathan said, "If your father works for this company, how do you know they didn't send him to trick you? Your father has lied to you before. How do you know he's telling the truth now?"

Claire considered Nathan's questions. Her father had lied to her in the past, but Claire felt that he was telling the truth now. And the fact that her mom knew about him made her believe that he wasn't lying. "Because I saw my dad's face after he'd been shot, and he was just as surprised as I was," she defended.

"Still, if these men are as dangerous as you say, we need to be cautious," Angela observed. "I'll order extra security around the mansion, and Nathan, I suggest you do the same for your downtown office. We don't know how many of these people are around."

With no further details to discuss, the group broke up; Angela went ahead to call for more security while Heidi checked up on the boys. Peter went back upstairs to rest, and Claire promised that she would talk to him soon. Only Nathan remained in the study, which was fine with her because Claire needed to talk to him alone.

She could understand if he was angry with her for bringing this type on danger into his home, but he had to know that it was an accident. Claire couldn't predict that her father would show up, or that someone from his organization would follow him.

Nathan rubbed his forehead. He couldn't believe that his original suspicions about Claire were right, that she was bad news for Peter. Now he needed to protect his family from an organization even more dangerous than Mr. Linderman. But despite his anger toward Claire, Nathan knew that she was innocent in all of this.

Nathan remembered something Hiro said one time, regarding the future: the future was like a pond; the ripples were constantly changing directions, making the shapes and forms unpredictable. He looked at Claire. "I know this isn't your fault, Claire, but a politician always needs to blame someone."

"I understand," she sympathized, understanding completely what he meant.

tbc


	10. Chapter 10

Come What May - Chapter 10  
By obi's girl

Claire found Peter leaning on the hallway wall upstairs, waiting for her. Claire sighed, falling into his arms, crying. All the trust Nathan had had in her was gone because of the current situation, and Claire felt like she had lost a valuable ally and friend. Still, she couldn't argue with Nathan and tell him that all of this wasn't her fault, because to some degree, it was. If she hadn't run away, then the company her father worked wouldn't have become suspicious of her. If she'd hung on for a while longer, then none of this would have happened. There were so many 'ifs' in Claire's mind.

"It's not my fault," she cried. "I didn't ask for any of this."

Peter shushed her, holding her in his arms. He knew that none of this was Claire's fault, but now that it happened, they all had to deal with it. If his brother wanted to be cold to Claire, there wasn't anything he could do about that, either.

In Peter's mind, a confrontation between good and evil was inevitable at this point. He had no doubt of that. But he could also understand Nathan's point of view in all of this. His priority was protecting his family, and now none of them were safe. They needed to get in contact with Hiro, Ando, Matt, Isaac and Mohinder, and at least tell them about what they knew so they could prepare.

Until five months ago, Claire believed that her father worked as a paper salesman, and now she knew the truth: that he worked for the people responsible for bringing her into his dad's life. Her father could have easily turned her over to them years ago, but he hadn't done that because he loved Claire. As twisted as the situation was, Peter could see that Mr. Bennet loved Claire and would do anything to protect her—including wiping her memory.

Peter sighed and looked down at Claire. She had fallen asleep on his chest, clutching his t-shirt. Peter gently picked her up, carrying her to her bed. He found her covers, and fixed them and backed away. She had been under so much stress, and Peter couldn't help but be responsible for some of that stress. 

Five months was a long time to be separated from the one you loved. It didn't help matters that he had still been in the city but forbidden to make contact with her and his family. That was one of Claude's rules. No attachments, no distractions. But now he was back. And Peter was determined to make things work between him and Claire. He loved her, after all, and he couldn't leave her again.

Never again.

Heidi Petrelli studied her husband from afar; he was already making calls to Hiro Nakamura, Ando, Isaac and Matt about their "new problem." Hiro and Ando weren't in, but he left messages, hoping that Hiro would have the sense to check them when they got back in from wherever they were. He wasn't able to reach Isaac either, but he was able to reach Matt.

Nathan told him everything he knew about their current situation, and although Nathan stressed that he didn't need to come to New York, Matt still wanted to make sure Claire was okay. After Nathan made all the necessary calls, that only left Claude on his list, but he didn't know how to get in contact with the invisible man. And he doubted that Claude had a permanent, reachable address in the city.

Peter would know how to contact him, but Nathan didn't feel like going upstairs and barging in on him and Claire. Tomorrow, he would talk to Peter about reaching Claude.

Exhausted and annoyed, Nathan dropped onto his chair, rubbing his forehead. Heidi came in and went to her husband. "You know none of this is Claire's fault..." she started, only eliciting a groan from him. "Nathan, it isn't her fault."

"So she says," he mused, "but if you think back, all of this trouble in our lives began when that little blond came running to Peter. Claire's presence was a problem then and still is now."

"She was scared, Nathan," Heidi defended. "She didn't know who her father was, or why he ordered the Haitian to wipe her memory."

Nathan glared at his wife. "You're on her side now? You're supposed to be on my side, you know. Protecting the boys should be your priority." 

"And it is my priority, and you should also know that if you stay angry at Claire for something she has no control over, then the boys are going to know that something is wrong," she reasoned. "Look, Nathan, Monty and Simon don't know about yours, Peter's and Claire's special abilities, and it's better that they don't know. Your mother is always saying that you need to keep up appearances, and I'm telling you now that tomorrow morning, you need to be nice to and understanding of Claire. We don't know much about this organization and their resources, but with Claire and Mr. Bennet's help, we can fight them."

Nathan studied Heidi carefully; even though she'd arrived late to the meeting, Nathan knew that she was right. As much as Nathan wanted to stay angry with Claire, he knew that in order to fight this enemy, he was going to need hers and Mr. Bennet's help.

Claire awoke around eleven p.m., and the last thing she could remember before passing out was the feel of Peter's arms around her. She still couldn't believe that he came back to her. Before Peter came back, she'd all but lost hope that he would, and now he was once again in her life. At least now he felt comfortable with his ability, and he could sleep in the same room with her.

Peter stirred and looked sleepily in Claire's directions. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Around eleven," she said and looked at him dreamily. "I'm really glad that you're here, Peter. It's silly, but I feel safe when you're around."

Peter blushed, embarrassed by the compliment. He still didn't know if he was completely in control of his ability, but he was grateful that when Claire looked at him, she didn't see a walking time bomb. "Thanks," he mused and looked at her. "Are you feeling better?"

"From before?" she asked and then shook her head. "I still feel guilty, if that's what you mean. You know, if I hadn't run away, then the people my dad works for wouldn't have known about me."

"I wouldn't worry about Nathan…he's just worried about his family; protecting his boys and Heidi…it doesn't mean that doesn't include you, though," he said, smiling.

Claire blushed. "You think he thinks of me as family?" she asked.

"I know he does," Peter mused. "He cares about you. I know it probably doesn't seem that way right now, but he does."

"So, how do you think of me?" she wondered. "Your brother thinks that I've become a problem...do you think the same thing?"

"Oh no, Claire," Peter cried. "Oh God, no, of course not. While I was away, thinking of you gave me focus. If I was having a rough time with Claude, all I needed to do was think of you -- your blond hair, your eyes and that beautiful smile -- and I'd remember what it is I was fighting for. I was fighting for you, Claire. And to stay alive."

"How did that work for you? Do you have better control of your ability?"

Peter shrugged. "I can fly when I need to, become invisible at will, and heal myself. Painting the future still requires a lot of focus, and bending time," he said, rubbing his forehead. "I don't know how Hiro does that without giving himself a headache."

"Well, Hiro still needs to practice from time to time," Claire joked, looking at him thoughtfully, "but I'm proud of you, Peter. You're a good man with a good heart, and I love you for keeping it all together."

"You're a part of my strength too, Claire," he said. "I wouldn't have been able to focus my ability without you. I know you weren't there, but sometimes I could sense you thinking about me."

Claire sighed. "You're my hero, Peter," she said. "You'll always be my hero." 

tbc


	11. Chapter 11

Come What May – Chapter 11  
By obi's girl

Claire woke up abruptly the next morning as Nathan knocked on her door, saying something about breakfast downstairs and that there were things they needed to discuss. Last night, Peter and Claire stayed up late talking about what had happened since he left to train with Claude. Claire told him about the countless nights she'd spent agonizing over him, her visits with Isaac to see if there anything new that the artist had worked on and visiting Zach in Odessa, thanks to Hiro.

Peter was grateful to hear that after his departure, Claire and his brother had become close, and Heidi had come to love Claire like a daughter. The pair talked until around 2 a.m., and the only time they realized it was so late was when Claire started yawning and feeling sleepy again.

Claire looked idly around the room for Peter. He could have been invisible, but Claire didn't think so. Suddenly, she realized that the shower was going in her bathroom and then stopped the next minute. Claire heard Peter get out, and waited as she was rewarded with a shirtless, dripping wet Peter Petrelli, clad only in a white towel.

"Oooh, very nice," she coed, smiling as she looked over Peter's perfectly sculpted body. "Very nice indeed."

Peter stopped dying his hair, looking at Claire. "I didn't want to wake you earlier, but I really needed a shower," he said. "I haven't been back to my apartment since I started training with Claude."

"Nathan came up about breakfast downstairs and that we need to 'talk' about the current situation," Claire added. "Last night, I didn't feel too great after talking with Nathan in the study. If he's still mad at me…."

Peter frowned, came over and sat beside her on the bed, gently rubbing her arm. "Hey, if Nathan's still mad with you at about last night, then don't worry about. Don't let him get to you."

She smiled, leaned over and hugged him. Peter hugged her back and then frowned, realizing if Nathan had walked in just then, he would be in a lot of trouble. "Um Claire, I need to put on a t-shirt."

Claire blushed and backed away, trying to keep a straight face as Peter got off the bed and put on a t-shirt. He then turned around and looked back at her. "I hate to do this to you, Claire, but I need to get changed as well," he said.

"You're kicking me out of my own room?" she questioned. "Can't you go down the hall and get dressed? I need to get ready too."

"Claire, please," he begged. "I won't be long, I promise." 

Claire sighed, grabbed her hairbrush and a new t-shirt from her dresser before leaving the room. She stepped into the hallway bathroom, put on the shirt, dropped the old one in the hamper and went downstairs.

Claire paced herself as she came downstairs and joined Nathan, Heidi, Angela and the boys for breakfast. She tried to remember what Peter had told her, but she found that she couldn't look at Nathan without feeling horrible about the previous night. As she sat there, she realized that her dad still wasn't up and wondered if he was okay. Mr. Bennet hadn't had time to recover from the surgery before Claire had asked Peter to fly him out of the hospital and take him back to the Petrelli mansion. 

Nathan grumbled something. Claire could barely make out what he said but she suspected it was "good morning." Heidi looked pointedly at her husband, reminding him of their conversation in the study last night. Angela said something about taking the boys outside to eat in the garden, leaving Claire alone with Heidi and Nathan. 

"Nathan…I…" Claire started. "I'm sorry." 

"I called the others last night. I wasn't able to get through to Hiro, Ando and Isaac, but Matt picked up. He's coming in later this afternoon," Peter said. "That partner of his, Audrey, is on an assignment elsewhere."

"Didn't you hear what I said? I said I'm sorry," Claire cried.

"I heard you," he said, "but now isn't the time for this. Where is your dad? He should have been awake by now. We need more information about the company he works for."

On cue, Mr. Bennet came down the stairs. Claire rushed to his side, helping him. Bennet thanked her as he sat down.

"Mr. Bennet, can you tell us more than what your daughter told us?" Nathan asked. 

Bennet glanced at Claire, but she looked down, idly playing with her breakfast food. "I started working at the company a year before Claire came into my life. Thompson came to me about a position in his new company, called Primatech Paper. I would be the new regional manager. I told him that I would consider the position but that I needed more information. He referred me to the company website and a sub page on the site that talked about the company's real mission: to capture and study people with special abilities, and track them as their abilities further develop."

"A year later, my partner and I were given an assignment to capture a woman with an unknown ability. The woman was startled to see my partner, and the apartment she was in caught on fire," Mr. Bennet, looking at Claire as he continued. "I rushed into the fire, found the woman's baby and escaped with her. Since the woman was alone in the apartment, the company tried to look for the girl's biological father, but they couldn't find him anywhere, so the company gave her to me. But once she manifested her powers, I was to give her back to them to study."

Claire blinked, taking it all in. There was no denying that the woman in the fire was her biological mother, and the baby was her. "So the woman…my mom…what happened to her? Did she die in the fire? Did she escape?" she questioned.

Before he could answer, Peter came downstairs. He smiled at Claire and sat down beside her as Mr. Bennet continued. "I don't know what happened to her. She might have escaped, but I don't know for sure," he said.

"So you really don't know anything about her at all?" Claire asked. "Not even what she looked like?"

"Who are we talking about?" Peter questioned, as he took a seat at the table.

"Claire's biological mother," Mr. Bennet said. "For a long time, I detached myself from you, Claire, until I realized that I couldn't do that anymore. My partner taught me that."

"Who? The Haitian?" Claire questioned.

Mr. Bennet smiled at Claire knowingly. "You think the Haitian was my partner since the beginning?" Before Claire could protest, her dad continued, "It may be hard to believe, but I haven't known him for long. I only met him when he was sixteen years old. My boss found the Haitian…he saved your mother's life so many times, and yours, Claire."

"You mean what happened to me before homecoming…that wasn't the first time I discovered my ability to heal?"

"No, it wasn't," he admitted. "There was another time when you were thirteen. I ordered the Haitian to wipe your memory, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened again. And it did, obviously." 

Nathan looked over at Claire and Peter. "What about the company's capabilities? They obviously have a facility in Odessa, but what about elsewhere? Do you know of facilities in New York?" 

"In New York, no," he said, "but they could easily set up shop locally if they needed to. There's something else I didn't mention to Claire earlier on the roof."

"What is it?"

"Sylar," he breathed. "After homecoming, we captured and studied him. The company was, naturally, curious how his body was able to maintain so many abilities at once. Until Sylar came along, we believed that the human body could only withstand one ability," Mr. Bennet said, looking at his daughter. 

Claire couldn't believe what she was hearing. The same man that tried to kill her was being kept alive under her dad's boss's supervision – to be studied. Why hadn't the Haitian mentioned that when her dad sent him to wipe her memory? "For how long?" she questioned.

Mr. Bennet sighed, looking away from his daughter. If it were up to him, he would have killed Sylar himself, but that wasn't a part of his orders. Even though Sylar was a ruthless serial killer, Mr. Bennet's bosses wanted to study him and find out how his power worked. Mr. Bennet still remembered that night when a bloodied Claire ran into him in front of the football field. 

"About a month after homecoming," he said, looking again at Claire.

Claire was clearly disturbed that this man was locked away and experimented on, instead of being killed. He had killed Jackie, and he almost killed her, too, and Peter. The fact that her father was involved in all of this was very unnerving. 

"But as you know, he escaped two days after you ran away," Mr. Bennet added. "It took a while, but authorities finally caught up with him. Believe me; he's in a place where he can't hurt anyone anymore."

"Is that the truth, or is the company still holding him?" Claire wondered, looking icily at him. "You've lied before. How do I know that he's not still locked up in a facility somewhere?"

"Because I'm your father, Claire," he said. "And I know I've lied to you before but I'm telling you the truth now. You have to believe that,"

Claire sighed, eating her food. "It's hard to believe anything these days," she said. "You know what? I'm not as hungry as I thought. I think I'm going to take that shower now," Claire got up and left the table, rushing upstairs.

After breakfast, Angela volunteered to take her grandsons out for a bit. Heidi went along with them, giving Nathan a chance to cool down and talk with Mr. Bennet. Heidi reminded Nathan before she left that he needed to be nice to Claire and that none of this was her fault. Though he wouldn't admit it, he was starting to see that now. 

Claire hadn't been in control of events leading up to their current situation. It was the company Mr. Bennet worked for. They were the ones responsible for bringing her into Mr. Bennet's life, and it was Mr. Bennet who was trying to protect Claire from them so she wouldn't end being experimented on like some animal. Everything he did was to protect her. His boss obviously knew a lot about Claire and other people with special abilities. Linderman also knew about people with special abilities, and it made Nathan wander if Mr. Bennet's unnamed boss was somehow tied to Linderman. Peter left Nathan to check up on Claire, leaving him alone with Mr. Bennet. 

"You still haven't mentioned anything about your boss," Nathan observed, "You must know something about him. He approached you and hired you, after all."

"I don't know much about his personal life, if that's what you mean, Mr. Petrelli," he said.

Nathan smiled. "There's no need to be so formal, Mr. Bennet. Call me Nathan," he offered. 

"Nathan, to be frank, I don't talk to my boss unless there's an emergency that needs to be taken care of," Bennet replied. "He's a very busy man."

"What about now? Wouldn't he consider this an emergency?" he questioned. "He obviously ordered a hit on you, and then to kidnap Claire. All he needed to know is where to find Claire and you led him right to her." 

Mr. Bennet scowled, turning to look at him. "What are you saying, Mr. Petrelli?" he asked, slipping back into formalities.

"Did the company send you to kidnap Claire? You've been loyal to them for years, and now all of the sudden you want to share their dirty little secrets with the rest of the world. They could have approached you and asked you if you knew where Claire was. You might have told them that you didn't know, but you knew all along, didn't you? You've known where she's been for months." 

"Petrelli, if I didn't know you any better, I'd say that you're threatened by my presence in Claire's life. But I am NOT a threat to you. I'm here to help you take down the company, and stop them before they hurt anyone else. I'm also here for Claire because she needs answers."

"We all need answers, Bennet. I'm just not sure if you're giving the right ones," he said. 

Mr. Bennet sighed. "If I were lying, then why would the company need to kill me?" he questioned. "It's true. I have been loyal to them for years, but that loyalty ends now and rests with Claire. She is my priority."

"She's mine too," Nathan whispered.

Claire was just coming out of the shower when Peter knocked. She hurriedly dried her hair and made sure her towel was snuggly around her body before answering. Claire held the door partially closed, only peering out to look at Peter. Peter stared blankly at her and then looked away, ashamed to be talking to her when she was practically naked underneath the towel. 

"Um, I wanted to see if you were okay," he said. "You seemed pretty upset downstairs."

"Twenty-four hours ago I was praying for him to live, but now I wish he'd go back to Odessa and leave me alone," she retorted. "I understand that the company he works for studies people like you and me, but I thought, considering how dangerous Sylar is, that they would kill him so he couldn't cause harm to anyone else. Instead, they kept him alive and experimented on him. I agree Sylar's evil, but the experimentation – like he's some lab rat – is disgusting." 

Peter scratched his head. "I know Claire. It makes my stomach turn, too," he admitted, "but as you said, the company is in the business of studying individuals with abilities." He heard her huff and mutter something under her breath. "Claire?"

"When I was in the hospital and I saw my dad in that bed, I wondered how you could love someone so much and hate them at the same time," she admitted. "Before I ran away, I thought my dad was some secret agent or something, and that he was responsible for making me this way. Now I know that I've been like this all along…"

Peter grinned. "Claire, you are not a freak. If you were, I would be one too. And Nathan, Hiro, Isaac and Matt," he joked.

"All of you are normal compared to my messed up life, Peter," she said. "But then again, if I was a normal teenage girl, I wouldn't have met you, and I would never take that back. Meeting you is the best thing that's ever happened me."

Peter rested his hand on the door, imagining his hands going through her hair and kissing Claire. Meeting Claire was definitely one of the biggest moments in his life. It changed him, his destiny – she made him want to be a better person, and it was true what he said before – she gave him strength. "Me too, Claire," he whispered.

He heard Claire giggle behind the door. "What? What is it?" he asked.

"I have a confession to make, Peter. Bumping into you in the hallway was not an accident. I saw you as I was going down the hallway and I thought I'd accidentally bump into you, to get a better look," she said, giggling. "Sounds silly now, doesn't it?"

Peter grinned. "Not so much, Claire. We were destined to meet, and destined to fall in love with each other," he mused.

Claire considered his words carefully. She knew destiny had had a hand in bringing Peter into her life, but she never thought about how connected they really were to each other. Future Hiro had come to Peter on the subway to warn him to save the cheerleader, leading him to Union Wells High School on the night of her homecoming game to save her from Sylar. Now, months after that horrific attack, she was reunited with her hero and lover. He came to Odessa to save her, and now she'd saved him from himself.

"I love you, Peter," she cooed.

"I love you, Claire," he said, hearing Nathan open the door downstairs. Matt had arrived earlier than expected. Without saying another word, he slipped back downstairs, leaving Claire to get dressed.

tbc


	12. Chapter 12

Come What May – Chapter 12  
By obi's girl

Peter found Nathan greeting Matt Parkman on the foyer. Bennet stood back, observing them until Nathan gestured that it was all right for him to come forward. Knowing that Mr. Bennet and the Haitian had abducted many people with abilities, it wasn't far from many of the heroes' minds that at one point, they might have been abducted as well.

"Peter, you're back," Matt exclaimed, looking around the house for Claude and Claire. Claire came down the stairs in a tank top, jeans and sweater. As she came down, Matt was able to read her mind – she was frustrated about something regarding her dad and the current situation, but she let it go. He looked again at Peter. "So, how long have you been back?"

Peter looked back at Claire; she looked at him pointedly and then he looked back at Matt. "Actually, Claude and I never left the city," he admitted. "We've been training on the rooftop of the Deveaux building for the past five months."

Matt glanced back at Claire. "You knew about this?" he asked.

"No, I didn't," she said, glaring at Peter, "but that's not the reason why Nathan called you." Mr. Bennet stepped forward, standing next to Claire. "We have bigger issues to worry about," she added. 

As Claire and Mr. Bennet explained to Matt about the company, Matt was able to piece everything together. He remembered meeting Mr. Bennet at the station after the incident at homecoming and tried to pin what was happening to him on Bennet, with little success. After Claire and her father finished explaining, Matt pulled down his collar and showed off a marking on his neck.

"I didn't know what this meant for a long time, but now I know where it comes from," he said, looking at Bennet. "When I saw you earlier, I thought that you had come here to capture all of us, and then you mentioned that you'd been shot, and that Nathan had flown you to the mansion upon Claire's request…"

Mr. Bennet smiled. "You thought I was one of the bad guys, Mr. Parkman. That's understandable. From your point of view, at one point, I was one of the bad guys, but I'm not like that anymore. The company wants to take Claire back and experiment on her, but I won't allow that to happen."

"So, what's your plan?" he wondered. "How do you plan to take the company down? I mean, they know that you've betrayed them. If you go back to Odessa and to your family, they'll kill you."

Claire looked worriedly at her father, but not because of what Matt said. Suddenly, she became worried about her mother, Lyle, and Mr. Muggles. There was no one to protect them from the company should they decide to hold them hostage, demanding that they return Claire.

"Claire, don't worry about your mom and Lyle. A friend of mine is watching them," he said.

"The Haitian?" Matt questioned.

Mr. Bennet nodded. "He's the only one I can trust to protect them while I'm here. If something happens to Sandra and Lyle, and Mr. Muggles, the Haitian will contact me," he said. "Assuming that Thompson and whoever is with him is still around, they're not leaving the city until they find Claire. And right now, I doubt that they know our exact location."

"What about the tattoos? Aren't they like tracking devices or something?" Claire wondered.

"The company can't track them, but the Haitian can," he said. "He can sense their whereabouts." 

Claude tried not to seem disturbed that Peter had run off in the middle of their training to rescue Claire, but it did bother him—especially since Peter wasn't capable yet of fully controlling his ability. In some areas, like flying, he lacked confidence, while other abilities came naturally to him. The key was to pull each ability individually, and not all at once. And although Peter hadn't realized that the key to this was related to his emotional state, Claude knew that an emotional trigger existed. There was always a trigger.

But Peter wasn't his problem anymore, and if the kid blew up New York, that was his problem. Although if he and the other heroes did die, Claude would miss some of them—like Claire, for example. He liked her. But considering her healing ability, it was unlikely that she would die if the explosion occurred. It was odd, but somehow Claude felt a pull toward Claire. Claude wasn't romantically interested in Claire, of course, but he felt a strong connection to the former cheerleader that he couldn't explain.

Claude sighed, putting his pigeons back in their cages, but as he turned around, he was rudely greeted by a tazer. He was barely able to see his assailant's face before passing out.

After meeting with Matt, Mr. Bennet went upstairs to lie down, leaving Peter, Claire and Nathan alone in the study. Matt volunteered to go to Hiro and Ando's apartment, and warn them in person about the company in case the duo hadn't checked their phone messages. Peter offered to go with him, and Matt agreed. Claire didn't appreciate that Peter was leaving her again, but she knew that they needed to get the word out about the company, so she let him go. 

Now, Claire was alone with Nathan, and he didn't look too happy to be alone with her either. He said he would be in his study if she needed him, and left Claire alone. Heidi, Angela and the boys were still out and Claire didn't know when they would be back. As Claire went over to the living room couch, she heard the doorbell ring. Claire moaned, got up and answered it.

Isaac Mendez smiled back at her. "Hi," he whispered.

"You're late," she exclaimed. "Peter and Matt were just here, but they went to Ando and Hiro's place to warn them about the company." 

"The company?" he questioned. "Who are they?" 

"These people my dad worked for…they study people with abilities – like us," Claire said, and looked at Isaac quizzically. "Didn't you get Nathan's voice mail? He left you a message about this."

Isaac shrugged. "My answering machine is broken," he said. "Anyway, I came over because I wanted to check up on you. How's your dad?"

Claire let him inside and guided him to the kitchen. "He's resting upstairs," she mused, studying Isaac again. "You really didn't get Nathan's voice mail about the company?"

"I've been meaning to fix the damn thing, but I haven't had the time to. Um, that's another reason I stopped by. I have a new painting back at my place – you should see it."

"Why didn't you bring it here?" she asked.

"It's a very big thing," Isaac reasoned. "It wouldn't have fit in the taxi."

Claire sighed and sat back on a stool. "I would go out and look at it, but I want to be here when Peter gets back with Matt, and I told Nathan that I wouldn't leave the mansion unless it was absolutely necessary. We don't know how many of these people are out there and everyone needs to be careful," she said.

Isaac smiled. "Oh believe me Claire, in this case, it is ABSOLUTELY necessary that you see this painting," he reasoned. "It has to do with Peter and the explosion."

Claire froze. "The explosion – but the time for that has passed. It was supposed to have happened around the election, but it didn't because of Claude's intervention," she cried. "So wait a minute, are you saying that the explosion could still happen?"

"I don't know," he mused, "but that's why you need to come with me and look at it."

Claire looked back at the study. "I'll get Nathan. If it has to do with Peter, then he needs to see it as well," she said, going back to the study but Isaac grabbed her wrist. "Isaac, let go of me! I need to get Nathan!"

"Ssshh, Claire," he purred. "There's no need to bring Nathan into this. You're the only one I need." 

Before Claire could protest further, she felt something being injected into her neck and then suddenly, feeling so drowsy. Claire wanted to call for Nathan, but whatever Isaac injected into her prevented her from forming coherent words. And as she looked back at him, she could see his face change into a woman's face…before darkness blanketed everything around her.

tbc


	13. Chapter 13

Come What May – Chapter 13  
By obi's girl

When Claire came to, the first thing that she noticed was that she was not in the Petrelli mansion anymore, but in a cell. There was a cot, a bedpan – and the lights – the bright lights filtering into the cell were so disorienting. Claire felt the area on her neck where she had been injected; the scar had already healed but she still felt drowsy. 

The bright lights around her made it difficult to focus properly, but through the lights, she was able to make out someone else in the cell with her. Claire tried to focus her eyes, but the lights were giving her a headache, and the tranquilizer wasn't helping either.

Foolishly, she tried to stand up, but collapsed. The figure Claire saw earlier rushed to her side, catching her body before it hit the floor and then gently laid her back onto the cot.

Upon arriving back at the mansion, Mr. Bennet came down the stairs to greet Peter, Matt, Ando and Hiro as Nathan came from the study. The only one missing was Claire. Peter looked over at Nathan, as he noticed himself that Claire wasn't downstairs already. He offered to look for her upstairs while Peter checked the rooms downstairs. Mr. Bennet would have gone with Peter, but he still couldn't move without feeling a shooting pain running through his chest from his gunshot wound.

Nathan came back from the upstairs as Peter met up with him. "She's not upstairs," he said. "I think Isaac stopped by here earlier. I heard him talking with Claire in the kitchen – I think she left with him to the studio."

Isaac. Peter scowled, pulling out his cell phone. He dialed Isaac's number. Thankfully, the painter picked up. "Isaac, its Peter. Is Claire there with you?" he demanded. 

"No," he said shortly. "I haven't seen her since the hospital yesterday."

Nathan eyes shot up, and he looked at Mr. Bennet accusingly; Mr. Bennet knew what he was thinking, but he had to have known that he wasn't responsible for Claire going missing. Peter hung up his cell, as Heidi, his mom and nephews came through the door. Monty and Simon hugged Peter and then their dad. 

"Hey guys, did you have a fun day with mom and grandma?" he asked, still eyeing Mr. Bennet.

"We went to Central Park," Simon said, looking around the grownups for Claire. "Claire would have loved it. Where is she?"

Nathan scowled, messing up Simon's hair. "Come on, go on upstairs and get cleaned up," he said, looking over at Heidi. Heidi sighed, ushering her sons upstairs while Angela stayed back.

"What happened?" she demanded. "Where's Claire?"

The next time Claire awoke, the lights had dimmed and she could focus her eyes more clearly. The figure that she saw earlier was a man…scruffy-looking, brown hair and blue eyes. Claire hadn't seen him before, but his presence felt familiar to her.

"Hello again, Claire," he said, his accent distinctly British.

"Claude?" she questioned, looking him over. "I thought you were supposed to be invisible. How can I see you?"

He sighed. "I'm invisible, for the most part, when I don't want anyone to see me, but I thought that you would feel better if you knew that you weren't alone," he said, "Feel any better now, love?"

Claire felt her neck again. The tranquilizer had worn off, but now she had a clearer view of what type of cell they were in. It was a small cell with a large two-way glass mirror. "It's the company, isn't it?" she asked him.

"Actually, its only Thompson and the shape shifter," he said. "I haven't seen anyone else." 

"Shape shifter?"

"I don't know her name, but she's been doing all the dirty work. And I think she was the one who shot your dad on the roof."

Claire looked over at Claude. "You were there when that happened? Was Peter with you then?" she questioned.

Claude backed away. "We were both there when it happened, yes," he said, holding up his hands. "Look Claire, I'm sorry about what happened to your dad, but you weren't supposed to be there. No one was supposed to know that we hadn't left the city, including you. But I thought it would be best if everyone thought that we had left so no one would go looking for us." 

Claire sighed, standing up off the cot. "I understand, Claude," she soothed as he helped her. "Who's this shape shifter?"

"I don't know," he offered. "She's the one who got you, I take it?"

Claire thought back to Isaac's appearance at the mansion. She didn't notice it then, but the painter had been apprehensive, anxious to get her alone. He hadn't even let her get Nathan. If the company only wanted to study her and kill her dad, then she wandered, why Claude was there. Claire looked over at cellmate. "Why are you here?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Old vendetta, I think," he mused, "but if the company were after you and your dad, then they wouldn't need me." 

"On the contrary, Claude," a voice interrupted them. "We have a lot of questions for you, but you're not the priority at the moment." The voice paused for a moment and for some reason, Claire could feel the speaker's eyes on her alone. "Welcome, Claire. We've been expecting you for a long time."

"Nathan, turn on the television," Heidi cried, coming down the stairs and going to the living room TV.

The heroes filed into the room, standing dumbfounded as to what Heidi was panicked about until the camera on TV panned to the Deveaux building and a female reporter interviewing someone. "Yesterday afternoon, residents of the Deveaux building and nearby residents reported hearing a gunshot. Witnesses from neighboring buildings did not see the shooter, but they have identified the possible victims as an adult male and female. I am here now with one of the witnesses…" The reporter turned to the witness, a boy in his late teens. "What did you see?" 

"I didn't see the shooter, but I saw a man come down from the sky; he rescued the girl and the man, and then he flew away, carrying them both."

The reporter looked at her subject questioningly, as Nathan held his breath. "You saw a flying man? Did he wear blue tights and red cape?" she asked.

"No. He wore office clothes…I didn't get a good look at him; he came and went too quickly," he said.

The reporter nodded and turned back to the camera, listening to a feed from her microphone. "This just in folks. We have recordable video of the escape of this flying man,"

The heroes watched in horror as the video of Nathan's rescue played back. The video had not been doctored or edited, because Nathan remembered letting Mr. Bennet rest on his back, as Claire held onto his waist. The video was paused and then lens zoomed in on the figures, but the image was still blurry. Heidi turned off the television and glared at her husband.

"I rescued Claire and her father," he defended. "She called me for help. What was I supposed to do? Ignore her?"

"You could have waited for the ambulance to arrive," she said.

"But the by the time they would have reached her, Mr. Bennet would have died, and Claire would have been taken by the company," Nathan defended, even though the latter part had happened anyway.

Angela Petrelli was unusually quiet, observing this whole mess. She knew that it was only a matter of time until more witnesses came forward and identified Nathan as the flying man. "That's it not, though. There's more, isn't there?" she questioned.

Heidi sighed. "Apparently, that guy wasn't the only witness as you heard. There were more and some of them have even talked to the media that the flying man resembled one Nathan Petrelli, the congressman," she said, going over to the front window. Two media trucks were parked outside of the mansion gates. Nathan and Peter went over to the window, glancing outside. "Damnit Nathan, if more media trucks arrive…"

"This definitely does not help matters," Peter mused, backing away and glaring at his brother. "How are we supposed to get to Claire if our only exit is blocked by media outlets?"

Heidi's scowl turned into a frown, glaring once again at her husband. "I thought Claire was here. Where is she?" she demanded.

Nathan sighed. "I don't know. Isaac stopped by here earlier; I assumed that she went with him to the studio, but…"

"I called Isaac at his studio and he said that he hadn't seen Claire since the hospital yesterday," Peter finished, looking back at Mr. Bennet. "We need to get her back,"

"I could teleport to wherever she is," Hiro offered.

"That could work…if we knew where they were holding her, but we don't know," Mr. Bennet said, "Most likely, they haven't left the city. They would need to set up shop somewhere and make do with that. Thompson wouldn't want to wait to begin the experimentation process."

Matt stepped in. "Then where would he take her? A hospital or a clinic would have witnesses. They'd need to go to some place private, where someone won't accidentally stumble upon them," he reasoned. 

"What's the closet area around here that would fit that description?" Peter wandered.

"Harbor docks," Nathan reasoned.

"We need to get there and save Claire," Peter resolved.

Heidi rolled her eyes, pointing once again to the media trucks outside of the gates. "Good luck getting there without being noticed," she said.

tbc


	14. Chapter 14

Come What May – Chapter 14  
By obi's girl

Claire tried to stay calm, but the voice from before made her very nervous. The voice clearly knew who she and Claude were, but she also wondered how much they knew about her. It occurred to Claire that if these were the people responsible for bringing her into her adoptive dad's life, then they had to know something about her biological parents. She could subtly pump them for information so in the event that she and Claude were able to escape, she could find the answers that she needed.

And by now, Peter should have realized that she wasn't at Isaac's.

"There's a trigger," Claude said suddenly, interrupting her thoughts.

Claire frowned, confused about what it was that Claude was referring to. "What trigger? What are you talking about?" she cried.

Claude studied her carefully. He thought that she would have figured it by now but he was wrong. "Peter doesn't know about it – at least I don't think he does – but a trigger exists," he said.

"Wait a minute, are you saying that something could set him off?" she cried. "Peter told me that he had his ability under control…the training helped him, didn't it?"

Claude shrugged. "It did. It helped him focus but there's still a slight possibility that he could explode, and from what Peter told me about Isaac's paintings, what he paints usually comes true," he said.

"Yeah but…" Claire started. She thought all of this was over and now she knew that the explosion could still happen. Peter, her Peter…could die. "He's empathic. His ability is tied to his emotions…he has control of his ability now. How could he still explode?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know but I know that a trigger – an emotional trigger exists," he reasoned, "There's always a trigger," Claire frowned. "Look Claire, I did everything I could to help him but I thought that you should know in the event that we don't get out of here," 

"Isaac – I thought he was Isaac – he said that the explosion could still happen," she whispered, "For months, I didn't know if Peter was alive, or if he was safe and now, there's this…I don't think I could deal with this if Peter…" 

Claude came over and hugged her. "He won't, love," he assured her. "Where there's a trigger to set him off, there's also one to save him, eh?"

"But that isn't likely, is it?"

Claude didn't say anything.

Peter sighed, sitting alone in Nathan's study. He needed time to think about what he was going to do next. More media vans had arrived, blocking the way out of the mansion, and he had no doubt that there were several more in the back. Now, it had been a little over seven hours since the heroes realized that Claire was missing, and taken by the company.

Mr. Bennet tried to offer his help in rescuing Claire, but Peter blatantly turned him down, and it wasn't because of his injury. In Peter's mind, Mr. Bennet led the company to Claire's location, and since they now had her, he was starting to question how the company knew that Claire was staying at the mansion. It occurred to him that maybe Mr. Bennet's intentions in all of this weren't exactly altruistic. Maybe he tipped them off that she was there, and that Peter and the rest of his family (with the exception of Nathan) were not at the mansion.

Maybe Peter was being paranoid, but it didn't seem like a simple coincidence that around the same time that Mr. Bennet came to see Claire, the company showed up to take her back. Peter hoped he was wrong about Mr. Bennet, but he still didn't trust him.

"Peter!" Nathan said, coming into the study. "I've talked with Hiro, Ando and Matt and we have an idea how to get to Claire."

"What about Mr. Bennet?" he questioned.

Nathan sighed. "Just come on out here," he said, sliding the study door closed. Peter stood up from Nathan's chair and exited the study, meeting Hiro, Ando, Matt and Nathan outside. "Okay, we know Claire is probably still in the city, from what Mr. Bennet said. And wherever they set up shop, it has to be somewhere remote so they won't draw unwanted attention." 

Hiro pointed to a map, lying on a table. "We think she's here at the docks. It's the only remote location they could have possible taken her," he said.

"What about a warehouse?" Peter questioned.

"There are some in this area," Ando pointed out. "Hiro and I could teleport there and check it out. If she is there, we'll come back and get you and Nathan."

Peter hesitated a moment. He wanted to go himself, but he agreed to let Hiro and Ando go. Hiro placed his hands on Ando's shoulders and the Japanese men vanished. Now, all Peter could do was wait until they came back.

Claire had fallen asleep in Claude's arms when Thompson and Candice finally made an appearance. He glared at them both. The sad thing was that, more than a decade ago, Claude had worked for Thompson, catching people like Claire to be tested and experimented on. After a while, Claude couldn't do it anymore -- he couldn't go out and capture his own people, throwing them to the wolves to be devoured. And now there was nothing he could do to protect Claire from the same fate.

"Hello again, Claude," Thompson said, smiling. He turned to Candice. "Oh, this is Candice...I believe that you beat her up and locked her in a hospital closet."

Claude frowned, looking her over. "Sorry, if I had locked up that bitch in a hospital closet, I think I would have remembered doing so," he said, and then stared icily at Thompson. "What are you going to do to her?"

"What do you think?" he shot back. "She will be studied like the others to learn the extent of her ability. She is, after all, a cheerleader, but not invincible. Everyone is breakable, even her."

"You don't need to do this," he retorted. "She's only a girl. Let her go."

"You seem to forget the business we're in, Claude. We study those with abilities, track them, and if they're a threat to society -- well -- you know what happens then."

Claude looked down at Claire and placed a hand on her blond hair. "She doesn't deserve this," he whispered, and then looked again at Thompson. "Take me instead. Study me and let her go."

Thompson considered his offer. "I could, but because of your history with this company, I'm going to refuse," he said and then nodded to Candice. Candice unlocked the cell and walked inside. Claude watched her as she picked up Claire and joined Thompson outside.

Suddenly, Claire awoke and she hit the back of Candice's neck with her arm. Candice scowled as Claire stepped away from them slowly, and then looked to Claude. Only Thompson was calm. "Come now, Claire. These test aren't that bad," he said.

"I'm not a lab rat," she seethed, running for the door but stopped short as two security guards blocked her.

"Claire, we don't want to hurt you, but these tests . . . the sooner that they're done, the sooner you can go home," he added.

"And then what?" she questioned.

"Is there something you want Claire?" he asked. "Information about your parents, perhaps? If you cooperate with us, we'll tell you anything that you want to know about them. Maybe even where to find them. You would like that, wouldn't you?"

Claire sighed and looked at Claude. She didn't want to go through these tests, but she did want to know more information about her parents. And maybe if she held out a little longer, then Peter would rescue her. Claude wanted to say something to convince her to run, but he already saw the resolve in her eyes to stay and go through with the tests. She turned and looked at Thompson. "All right," she whispered. "I'll stay, as long as you keep up your end of the bargain and tell me anything I want to know about my biological parents."

Thompson smiled. "Of course," he agreed, and the Candice escorted her to another room. He turned and looked back at Claude. "I'll be back for you later, Claude."

Claude frowned. "I thought you said that you weren't interested in testing me?" he questioned.

"Oh, I'm not coming back for that. I have some questions to ask you about 'the others,'" he said.

"What 'others?'" he shot back.

"Claude, Claude, you know exactly what I am talking about. You know about them, all of them, and the abilities that they have," he said. "And how wonderful it is that they are all in New York City, going about their everyday lives, trying to be normal like everyone else when they know that they aren't." 

Claude shrugged, grinning. "Sorry, mate, I don't know what you're talking about," he lied. "I'm a loner, remember?" 

"You _were_ a loner, Claude, but not anymore," Thompson finished, leaving him alone.

tbc


	15. Chapter 15

Come What May (Chapter 15)  
By obi's girl

Peter hated waiting. It had been thirty minutes since Hiro and Ando left to check out the warehouse, and in his opinion, thirty minutes was too long to be away. He knew that his friends were capable of taking care of themselves, but it still made him uneasy. Hiro had an active power, but Ando did not.

Nathan had gone to wait for Hiro and Ando's return in his study, Mr. Bennet was upstairs resting, leaving the mind reader alone with Peter. Over and over again, Peter thought about Claire and getting to her as soon as he could. But Claire wasn't the only thing he was thinking about; he was also thinking about how to take down the company himself, or at least Thompson and whoever it was he was working with. Maybe that someone was Mr. Bennet, but Peter couldn't be sure.

Peter noticed Matt looking at him and he stood up, pacing around. "Becoming paranoid isn't going to help anyone get Claire back," Matt said. "And we will find her, Peter."

"I'm not paranoid," he spat back. "I'm just worried."

"So you weren't thinking that Mr. Bennet was somehow involved in Claire's kidnapping?" he shot back. "Yeah, I thought about that too. But again, we can't be sure if he was."

"You're taking his side now?" Peter retorted. "None of this would have happened if Mr. Bennet hadn't shown up and lead the company straight to her!"

Matt nodded. "I know, but I don't think it was his fault," he said, and Peter glared at him. "All right, hear me out, Peter. Claire came to you for help. Five months pass, Mr. Bennet finally comes clean to his wife and she persuades him to go to Claire. All of the sudden, the company shows up to take Claire back, injuring Bennet in the process."

"What's your point?"

"My point is – maybe the company infiltrated Mr. Bennet's home. They knew that he was lying to them all along; they just needed to know Claire's location so they could go after her," he finished. "I think they tricked Mr. Bennet into coming here."

Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Listen to us! You're telling me that I'm paranoid and you're spouting conspiracy theories," he joked. "All I know is that right now, Claire is in trouble, and she needs us."

"Don't you mean 'she needs me to save her?'" he asked. "Peter, we don't know what these people are capable of. If you go in there by yourself without backup, it would be suicide. We have to wait here for Hiro and Ando to return." 

Peter shrugged. "I wasn't planning on doing anything stupid," he shot back.

Matt grunted. "Sure, you weren't," he whispered as Hiro and Ando got back. Matt went ahead to get Nathan.

"What happened? What did you find?" Peter questioned. "Did you see Claire?"

Hiro shrugged helplessly. "We did not see her anywhere," he admitted. "This company is very smart. They must have known that once we realized that she was missing, we would go after her." 

"I'm sorry, Peter," Ando offered.

"What we need is for all of us to get out of the mansion and look for her," Peter said, "but we can't do that because of the media vans outside."

"We could try another location," Ando added. "The place where we checked couldn't have been the only location they might be holding her."

Peter scratched his head. They needed something more concrete to go on. Peter flipped open his cellphone, calling Isaac. The dial tone seemed to go on forever, but finally, Isaac picked up. "Isaac, have you painted anything new?" he questioned.

"Regarding Claire? No, I haven't," he said. "You haven't figured out where she is yet?"

Peter sighed, looking over at Matt, Hiro and Ando. "All right, I'm coming over there," he said, shutting off his cell phone before Isaac could protest. He looked at Hiro. "Can you take me there?"

Hiro put his hands on Peter's shoulders, closing his eyes. Peter did the same thing, hoping that by the end of the day, Claire would be back in his arms. 

Claire stared hopelessly at the ceiling; there wasn't anything else that she could do being strapped on her back to some X-ray machine. The room she was taken to resembled a doctor's office, but she knew otherwise. Like a doctor's office, someone came to ask her questions: name, birthday, when her ability first manifested itself and how many people knew about her.

On the latter, Claire only mentioned her adoptive father and the Haitian. If she said that there were others who knew about her, then Peter and the other heroes would be in the same position as her. After the "nurse," left, Thompson arrived. He smiled kindly at Claire. "Are you comfortable?" he asked. "I hope you didn't have anything too heavy to eat – the radiation sometimes…" 

Claire didn't like Thompson's attempt at casual small talk, especially since she was about to be looked at and studied like some lab rat. The whole situation sickened Claire. "How's Claude?" she questioned.

"Waiting for your return, as are your friends," he mused, and Claire glared at him. "Your questionnaire says that only Mr. Bennet and the Haitian know about you, but anonymous sources have told me the contrary."

Claire didn't say anything.

"While I have your attention Claire, I want to apologize for the attempt on Mr. Bennet's life," he said. "He's been very loyal to the company for so long, and for him to hide you from us is reprehensible. He knew that there was a possibility that one day you would manifest, but I never thought that he would fall for you as he did."

"He's my father," she seethed. "I thought he was the bad guy in this story, but I was wrong. You are."

"It might seem that way, given the circumstances…but Bennet made one fatal mistake: he stopped seeing you as an assignment and instead became attached to you, like a cuddly teddy bear."

Claire shrugged. "What did you think would happen when you handed over an infant baby girl into his arms? That he wouldn't care about me? He wouldn't grow to love me?" she shot back. "How do you live with yourself, catching people like me and looking at their insides with a microscope? It's degrading, and sickening!"

Thompson sighed, studying Claire. "You were a lot cuter when you were an infant; chubby arms and legs, and the sweetest face in the world…" he said. "What you don't understand, Claire, is that the reason we study those with abilities, so we can help them maintain and control their ability."

Claire smirked. "Sorry, I've already learned that lesson on my own," she retorted. 

"Oh, I know you have – with your friend, Zach," he said, "but it doesn't matter now. We can still learn a lot about you," Thompson looked outside of the room, noticing the techs finally arrive. He turned, looking back at Claire. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Claire."

Isaac stared at the blank before him. Claire was still missing, and as much as he wanted to help find her, he couldn't paint anything. Isaac heard about dry spells of no creativity, but now, he really needed to focus and just paint something. Peter and Hiro were on their way to the studio. Isaac moaned, rustling his hands through his hair.

The artist dreaded seeing Peter again. For five months, Isaac was able to enjoy Claire's presence without Peter hovering over her. But now he was back, and Isaac had been pushed aside once again and his place was taken over by one Peter Petrelli.

Isaac happened to glance up from the blank canvas in front of him, as Peter and Hiro arrived. Peter thanked Hiro, and then stalked over to Isaac. "Peter," he greeted. "When did you get back?"

Peter ignored him. "Have you painted anything new since the last time I talked to you about Claire?" he asked.

"I haven't," Isaac replied, gesturing to the blank canvas in front of them. "I think it's a dry spell."

Peter wanted to yell at him, but Hiro stepped in to defuse the situation. The last thing all of them needed was for Peter and Isaac to get into a fight over Claire. Although a fight between them seemed inevitable, now still wasn't the time for it. "Just concentrate," Hiro offered. "We need to find Claire. Ando and I already checked out the warehouses, and we didn't see any evidence that she was there, but maybe we missed something."

Peter looked back at Isaac. The painter stepped away from him and instead stared back at the blank canvas. Isaac closed his eyes tightly, filling his thoughts with Claire -- flashes of her beautiful smile and wavy blonde hair. When he reopened them, Isaac's eyes had been replaced by white blindness. He studied the canvas closely before grabbing a paintbrush and dipping it into several jars, painting as quickly as possible. 

When he was done, Isaac closed his eyes again. He heard Peter gasp as he opened his eyes, and then realized why. Claire wasn't the only one that the company had: they had also kidnapped Claude, Peter's mentor.

Peter looked away from the canvas, suddenly remembering his scuffle with the brunette woman in the hospital. She must have thought that it was Claude she was fighting with, and reported it to her superiors, and they captured him in retaliation. 

Hiro examined the portrait, looking for clues as to where they might be. It was the inside of a cell; Claude was there, sitting helplessly on a cot, waiting for someone—probably Claire. Other than Claude's presence, Peter still didn't know where they were located. That cell could have been anywhere.

"Paint another one," Peter demanded, "exterior this time, preferably."

Isaac glared at him, messing with his hair once again. "Look, I want to find Claire as you do, but this isn't easy," he said. "I need time."

"We need to find Claire-and Claude—now! They're depending on us!" Peter retorted, grabbing the paintbrush out of his hand.

Hiro looked between both men, and then stepped backward, not wanting to become get in the middle of a fistfight between them. Isaac sighed, sitting back as Peter's eyes became like Isaac's and he started painting.

tbc


	16. Chapter 16

Come What May (Chapter 16)  
By obi's girl

"Where's Peter?" Angela demanded. No one had told Angela or Nathan Petrelli that Peter had left with Hiro to go to Isaac's studio about Claire.

Nathan had been purposely hiding himself in his study so Peter couldn't lash out at him for not watching Claire. After all, Nathan had been the only one home when Isaac, or whoever it was, took Claire and he felt guilty about that. He could have saved her then, but he had been so stubborn and angry.

"Well?" Angela questioned. "Where is he?" She looked amongst the heroes and noticed that he wasn't the only one missing. "And where's that little Japanese man, too?"

Ando stepped forward. "Hiro and Peter went to Isaac's place," he said. "Peter wanted to see if he had painted anything new, regarding Claire."

Angela rolled her eyes. "Oh perfect," she muttered. "That's just like him to be 'the hero,' in all of this mess," She looked over at Nathan. "Well, do you want to tell them or should I?" Nathan shrugged. "The media crews have left," Angela said. "Apparently, there's a more interesting story going on downtown that demands their attention."

"We can leave the mansion then?" Matt cried. "What happened?"

Angela sighed. "An anonymous tip was sent to one of the crew, and the tip spread like a wildfire," she said, smiling. "Tell Peter when he gets back that I've called a friend of mine to help in the search for Claire."

Nathan looked at his mother suspiciously. "What friend?" he questioned. 

"An old friend," she said. "Nathan, now that those hyenas are gone, the boys want to go out."

"Do they know that Claire's missing?" he asked.

"They don't; just like how they don't know that their father and uncle have special powers," she retorted, going back upstairs.

Peter nearly collided with the table behind him as he finished painting. Isaac and Hiro studied the painting before them; finally, they had an exterior view of where Claire and Claude were being held.

"That's it! That's where she is!" he cried. "Come on Hiro!"

"Wait," Isaac interrupted. "You can't go there alone. What if there are more of them there that you thought? You need to go back to the mansion and get the others."

Peter shook his head. "There's no time for that," he said. "We need to get Claire and Claude out of there right away."

"I'm coming with then," Isaac volunteered.

"You're NOT coming, Isaac," Peter seethed. "You're not going anywhere near Claire…not after you tried to steal her away from me."

The painter frowned, studying him carefully. "You were there on the roof before Mr. Bennet came; you saw us together," he surmised. "Peter, we were just talking." 

"The HELL you were!" he screamed, clenching his fists together. "I saw you try to kiss her, and the two of you at the hospital after Mr. Bennet had been brought in. You knew she was vulnerable, but you still tried one last time to take her from me, Isaac, and now you want to be the 'hero' in her life." 

"Peter…" Hiro said, "Claire…"

Isaac waved his hand. "Its okay, Hiro. Obviously, Peter has very strong feelings about what he thinks is going on between me and Claire," he said. "You can rest easy, Petrelli, because it's not me that she loves. It's you; it's always been you."

Peter still stalked over to Isaac and grabbed his shirt, pushing him against the wall, startling Hiro. He'd never seen Peter act this way before; he reached for his sword in case things got violent between the two men. 

"I won't lie to you, Peter. I care about Claire a lot, and I wish that she looked at me the same way she looks at you, but her feelings for you aren't going to change anytime soon," he admitted, looking back at Hiro. "Let me come with you, Peter." 

"Why? So you can take credit for saving Claire?" he shot back. "You're only a painter, Isaac…you couldn't even keep Simone from leaving you, and now you want to take Claire from me. I refuse to let that happen." He dropped Isaac onto the floor, walking back over to Hiro. "Hiro and I are going alone."

"Your infatuation with Claire ends now, Isaac!" he cried, bracing Hiro's shoulders. Before Hiro closed his eyes, Isaac touched Hiro's shoulder and the three of them teleported to the warehouse.

When Claire arrived back in her cell, she began to feel nauseous from the radiation and slowly went to lie down on the cot. As she lay there, she looked around for Claude, and then realized that he she didn't see him anywhere. Claire thought that he made himself invisible, and started calling out his name. When she didn't hear his British accent, she knew that she was alone.

"What did you do to Claire?" Claude demanded as he sat in some type of interrogation room. While he was waiting for Claire's return, two guards came to escort him to a private room for questioning. Thompson arrived much later. The last time Claude saw his former boss, it had been in his office as he ordered Mr. Bennet to kill him for disloyalty. Now, he was sitting across from him. Claude could have easily leaned over and strangled the man but he restrained himself.

"Claire's back in her cell now," he said. "I wanted to talk to you, Claude, air out old grievances." 

Claude shrugged. "If that's what you want, then…" he said and then leaned over the table, punching him in the face. 

Thompson moaned, signaling the guards outside to restrain him as he pulled out a handkerchief from his shirt pocket. "That was totally uncalled for," he said. "I thought the British were supposed to be gentlemen?"

"For the ladies, mate," he said. "Not for you."

"Clearly," he said. "I understand why you're angry, Claude, but you knew what you were getting yourself into when you signed up with the company; Bennet knew it, too, and yet, the both of you turned your backs on us." 

"Let's just say that you don't play fair," he said. "These are people, for God's sake. Human beings with families. But you don't care about that, do you?"

Thompson sighed. "You have it all wrong, Claude. The company cares about people; that's why we do what we do. To protect them from what they don't understand."

"I used to believe that lie," he said, "but not anymore. Not since what you did to Claire's mum." 

"Ah, Meredith, case number 2336-78-2007, nickname: fire starter," he said. "I promised Claire that I would tell her about her biological parents, but the fact of the matter is that Meredith's been dead for the past ten years, and her father – wherever he is –" He stopped and grinned. "He seems to have disappeared, hasn't he, Claude?"

Claude glared at him. "Fantastic! You think that I'm Claire's father because I've taken an interest in her well-being? I have news for you, Thompson, I'm not her daddy."

Thompson smiled. "It was just a thought, Claude," he said. "After all, we all had lives before the company."

"Some of us would love nothing more than to go back to that life," he mused.

"Claude, you still don't get it. As long as you have this ability, your life will never be normal. You're still human, but your life will never be the same again, and neither with Claire's. Evolution and God decided that." 

"That's true, mate, but as long as you people exist, how can any of us have normal lives, eh?" he shot back. "And what is 'normal' anyway? No one really is 'normal,' Thompson." 

Thompson sighed, leaning back. "Oh please, Claude, don't get all philosophical on me," he cried.

"All right, let me put it another way. If you had a little girl, and she manifested an ability, would you turn her in to be studied, or would you do the fatherly thing and protect her from bad people like you?"

"If she could be cured, I would happily allow her to be studied," he said, causing Claude to scowl. "But luckily, I don't have kids to worry about."

"You belong in Hell, Thompson," he cursed. "Claire doesn't. She's a good kid…let her go." 

Thompson folded his hands together, studying him. "Is that a request, Claude?" he questioned.

"No. It's a plea," he retorted. "She doesn't deserve any of this."

"We'll let you and Claire go once the man in charge is satisfied with the results," he said. "Someone will take you back to your cell. Claire is probably waiting for you."

tbc


	17. Chapter 17

Come What May (Chapter 17)

By obi's girl

Almost as soon as Peter, Hiro and Isaac arrived at the warehouse, Peter punched Isaac, knocking him onto the dock. Hiro looked around cautiously in case someone was watching but he didn't see anyone and went to Peter's side. He understood Peter's anger towards Isaac but now really wasn't the time for a fight. Claire needed them.

"Peter…Claire," Hiro tried to tell him, but Peter ignored him.

Isaac cursed under his breath, nursing his bloody nose. He tolerated Peter's anger before but not anymore. "Feel better, Peter?" he shouted.

"Why did you come with us?" Peter questioned, "You weren't supposed too, Isaac. I told you, Hiro and I would take care of this. You don't need to be here!"

"Maybe not, but you're not exactly sane either, Peter," Isaac retorted, "Look at you, your love for Claire has blinded you. You don't see what's happening…"

"I see things clearly, Isaac," Peter seethed, "You came because you wanted to be the hero, but you're not a hero. You're not Claire's hero, I am!"

Hiro stepped forward. "Speaking of Claire, Peter, she's waiting for us to rescue her and Claude," he said. "You need to put your anger aside and focus on that."

"Stay here, Hiro," Peter commanded, looking over at Isaac. "We do this together."

Isaac agreed, and followed Peter into the warehouse. From a distance, the Haitian watched the pair enter the warehouse. He picked up his cell phone. "They're here," he said. "They found Claire and Claude." After listening for a moment, he nodded, replaced his phone, and quietly backed away.

When Claude came back to the cell, he found Claire lying on the cot, curled up like a baby, her eyes red from crying. The sight broke his heart. He cared for Claire a great deal, and now there was nothing he could do to ease the pain of this situation. Well, maybe there was one thing he could do.

Claude quietly walked over and sat down on the cot, lifting her head and placing it on his lap as he gently stroked her blond hair.

Finally, Claire spoke. "I've never felt so violated before in my life," she whispered, "They don't see me as a girl, or even a person."

Claude didn't say anything. Claire shifted and turned to look at him. "What happened to you? You were gone for a long time. Did you see Thompson?" she wondered.

Claude hesitated. "I did," he admitted, "but that's not important now. Look Claire, there's something I have to tell you…It's about your mum…"

"Did Thompson tell you something about her?" she cried hopefully, "What about my biological father?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about," he said, "Claire, your biological mother…she..." Before he could continue, a shockwave penetrated the cell, bursting the door open. Claude covered Claire with his body, quickly glancing back amidst the dust and wreckage, and was surprised to see Peter and Isaac standing in place of the frame.

"Claire?" Peter asked, running over to the cot.

Claire looked up at Peter and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him. "I knew you'd save me again," she cried.

Peter smiled. "I couldn't let you down."

The blast Peter created triggered an alarm, alerting Thompson and Candice that Claire and Claude had escaped from their cell. Peter, Claire, Claude, Isaac and Hiro ran down the hallway towards their exit, but since they didn't know how many people from the company were in the facility, Hiro volunteered to teleport Claude and Isaac back to the mansion. Peter could take Claire and run.

Claire stared at Claude as he held onto Hiro. There was something he needed to tell her about her biological parents but whatever it was, had to wait until later. They would all see each other back at the mansion anyways. Claude smiled crookedly at Claire before leaving with Hiro.

"Come on," Peter said, breaking her thoughts, "Hold onto me."

Claire looked at him dumbfounded. "You can teleport us to the mansion?" she asked.

He nodded, so Claire wrapped her arms around Peter and closed her eyes.

By the time, Thompson and Candice reached Claire and Claude's cell, the prisoners were already gone. Candice asked if she should go look for them, but Thompson waved her away. Before she left, he told her to clean up the mess Claire's rescuers had left.

Thompson surveyed the damage carefully, and then stepped out of the cell, pulling out his cell phone. Normally, he wouldn't disturb "the man," unless it was extremely important but he needed to know what had happened, and how to proceed next.

"Hello sir, I apologize for disturbing you but Claire and Claude have escaped…their super friends arrived and created a very big mess in our New York facility," he said.

Thompson walked further down the hall, stopping before another cell. "Are you sure, sir? We were making progress with Claire and… yes – I understand. I won't disturb you again, sir. Thank you for your time. Goodbye," he said, flipping the phone closed. He turned back to face Candice.

"What do we do next? Go after the girl?" she wondered.

"No, he doesn't want her anymore. He said we should focus our studies elsewhere," he said, gesturing to the cell behind him. Candice punched in a code, opening the darkened room. Thompson turned on the lights. A figure lay flat on a metal table, staring blankly at the ceiling. "It's odd that they didn't sense his presence here, but then, they never really came for him in the first place. They came to rescue her and Claude,"

"I doubt rescuing a known serial killer is their major priority," she mused.

Thompson sighed, knocking on the see-through glass. The man stirred, struggling to break free but the cuffs holding him down were too strong.

"We're doing the country a favor by keeping you here…Mr. Gabriel…or should I say Sylar?" Thompson said, grinning.

Mr. Linderman sighed, putting down his cell phone. He didn't like mishaps but perhaps, this particular mishap was for the better. In his opinion, it was too dangerous to keep the cheerleader and Claude in the same facility as Sylar, though it was the only one in New York. Linderman turned around, wiping his hands on his apron as he continued to chop carrots and other vegetables.

tbc


	18. Chapter 18

7

Come What May (Chapter 18)

By obi's girl

Notes: I had to give H.R.G a name for this chapter. I hope it fits people's expectations of what his first name would be. I wrote this chapter before the season 1 finale. So H.RG's first name is 'Hank,' not Noah.

When Peter and Claire made it back to the mansion and were reunited with the others, Peter pulled Claire into a tender embrace. Claire smiled and sighed at feeling Peter's strong arms around her. Even though Mr. Bennet and their friends were in the next room waiting for them, Peter bent his head down and kissed Claire.

Anyone could have walked in on their reunion but at the moment, neither of them cared because all that mattered was that Claire was where she belonged: safe, in Peter's arm.

As much as Claire wanted to stay there forever, she knew that both of them needed to make an appearance, and if Claude hadn't left yet, Claire wanted to talk to him. Claire kissed Peter softly before joining the others in the living room; Peter came in a few minutes after her.

Hiro and Isaac made it back safely but Claire frowned when she didn't see Claude anywhere. She had hoped that he hadn't left already but it looked like he already had. Claire continued to look casually around the room. Her eyes stopped on her dad, Nathan and Angela. The three of them were talking with someone she could not see. Mr. Bennet turned upon noticing Claire standing there and beckoned her over.

Claire walked over to hug him. Mr. Bennet smiled, happily holding his daughter in his arms. "Claire," he breathed, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine dad," she said, pulling away as Peter joined her. "Thanks to Peter. He saved me and Claude."

Mr. Bennet looked at the man standing across from him. "Mr. Petrelli, you saved my daughter's life…again. I don't know how to thank you," he said, extending his hand to Peter.

Peter smiled, blushing. "I would do anything for your daughter, Mr. Bennet. She's very special to me," he said, this time causing Claire to blush.

"Claire's a very special girl," he agreed, looking once again in her direction. In the midst of their conversation, Claire found herself distracted, looking around the room once again for Claude but she still couldn't see him. "Claire, are you looking for someone?"

Claire blushed, turning her attention back to her dad and Peter. "Did Claude get back okay? I saw Hiro and Isaac but he wasn't with them," she wondered.

Mr. Bennet pursed his lips. "I think he took off," he mused, "Claude's never been a people person,"

"Claire, what is it?" Peter questioned.

She shrugged, looking around the room once again. "It's nothing…I was just worried about him."

After meeting with everyone downstairs, Claire needed to rest. Peter, however, did not want let her out of his sight for fear that he'd never see her again but Claire convinced him that she would be fine. He finally her go, realizing that she did in fact need to rest.

Claire splashed some water on her face and patted it dry before relaxing on her bed, though she didn't feel very sleepy. Some things were still bothering her.

Firstly, Thompson hadn't told her anything about her biological parents, and secondly, that Claude knew something about them but was now nowhere to be found. Putting her back at the beginning. But Claire considered that perhaps the reason the company and her dad didn't tell her anything about her biological parents was because they were already dead. Maybe her dad was trying to save her from the heartache she'd eventually discover if she kept looking for them.

Still, in the back of her mind, Claire felt that wasn't the case and she had hoped that Claude would be able to tell her more. But that wasn't possible anymore because he was gone now.

"Claire?"

Claire's head shot up, looking around her room for the speaker. Her eyes rested on the dresser as Claude's body materialized, leaning on it.

"I thought you left," she whispered.

Claude shook his head. "I couldn't do that to you, Claire," he said, "I just didn't want to see your dad."

Claire frowned. "Why?"

"It doesn't matter now," he reasoned, "its good Peter came when he did. You didn't deserve to be in a place like that."

"You didn't either," she pointed out and cocked her head to one side, "Why were you there anyway?"

He shrugged, leaning off the dresser. "Nathan said that it was probably a case of mistaken identity," he said, "He told me that Peter was at the hospital and he beat up Candice and locked her in the closet. Candice must have thought that it was me."

"Oh," she whispered, looking over Claude carefully. "You know, before Peter came, you were going to tell me something about my biological parents. What was it?"

"Your parents," he sighed, "I asked Thompson about them."

"What did he say?" she asked.

Claude sighed again. "Your mum, Claire, she died ten years ago. Or that's what Thompson says. In all honesty, I stopped believing anything that bastard says."

"So, she could still be alive?" she cried.

Claude shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know for sure," he reasoned.

"And my father?"

Before, Claude was prepared to tell her the truth about her biological father but now, Claude felt that now wasn't the right time. What would he have to gain from telling her anyway? She would just be disappointed. Claude knew Claire's father and in his opinion, he wasn't anything special. The man may as well be dead.

"He died two years ago," he whispered.

Claire's frown deepened, and she looked away from Claude. "And my biological mom might still be alive but you can't be sure about that," she said, "I guess I should have expected that."

"I'm sorry Claire," he soothed.

Claire smiled at her solemnly. "Thank you Claude," she said, "At least I finally know the truth."

"Claire?" Peter called, knocking softly on her door. Claire looked in Claude's direction, thinking that he would make himself invisible, but she could still see him. Peter opened the door and frowned, seeing his former mentor there. "I thought you left?"

Claude stood up straight. "I was leaving," he corrected him, "I needed to talk to Claire about something before I took off," He turned and looked at her. "Take care of yourself, love."

Claire smiled. "You too, Claude," she whispered.

"Look Claude, about training…" Peter started, "I'm sorry that I took off like that…"

"Don't worry about it, Peter. Claire needed you," he said, smiling back at her. "She needs you now…I'll see you around."

Claire sighed as Claude left. She'd grown so close to him in the short amount of time they were in captivity together, and now, he was gone, again. Maybe permanently this time, although with Claude, you never knew. Maybe he would come back. Possibly. Peter looked back at Claire.

"You all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she mused.

"Hiro, Ando and Isaac are leaving now. If you wanted to say goodbye, now is the time to do it," he said. "I think Matt is going to leave soon too."

Claude didn't feel right leaving Claire but he knew it was the right decision. What kind of father could he be to Claire? One who disappears and runs a lot to save his own skin? No, Claire deserved better than that. She deserved more, a life better than this but he couldn't go back and change everything now. He sighed, content to leave the Petrelli mansion quietly. But as he left, Mr. Bennet caught his gaze and walked towards him.

The last time Claude saw his former partner was fifteen or so years ago. It wasn't supposed to end the way things did but it happened anyway. Claude didn't know that Meredith was like him when they first got together and once they were sent on that one fateful assignment that put Claire in Mr. Bennet's arms, Claude knew that his life would change forever. Never again would he hold his baby girl in his arms and call 'her' his. Claire belonged to Bennet and the company. She wasn't his daughter anymore.

Some days, Claude would remember coming by the Bennet house with a teddy bear to add to Claire's growing collection. Her father told her that they were gifts from his partner because he liked her. More like loved her like a daughter, but could not love her the way a father could love his daughter. That was hardest part. Walking away from his own flesh and blood.

To help soften the pain, Claude distanced himself from everyone around him. The company took away his daughter and the woman he loved…why did he need to attach himself to someone else?

Mr. Bennet didn't understand his partner's attachment to Claire until the last day they saw each other when Thompson ordered him to kill Claude. Claude told him about Claire and Meredith, and made him promise, no matter what happens next, that he would protect Claire and love her the way she deserved to be loved. Bennet promised and then shot him on his right hand shoulder, causing him to fall backwards off the bridge and vanish into thin air.

Now, the man who was Claire's adoptive father was walking towards him. Mr. Bennet smiled sourly at his former partner. "You talked to Claire?" he asked, knowing full well that he had.

"Don't worry, Hank. I didn't tell her everything," he retorted, "You took good care of her for a long time. Thank you."

Bennet smiled. "Sandra and I did what we could," he said, "She always wanted a daughter."

"Yeah," he mused, "Look, I told Claire that Meredith died ten years ago. It's not likely that she'll go searching for her. Her dad, on the other hand ---"

"Claude –" he warned, "You can't be her father. She deserves better."

"I know she does," he said, "but if she looks, I won't be far, Hank. That girl is still mine. You remember our deal on the bridge? You take care of her temporarily until I'm ready. One day, Hank, one day, I'll be ready. I promise you that."

Bennet shrugged. "Oh, I know you will but for now, Claude," he said, "Stay away from my daughter,"

"_Our _daughter," he corrected him. "She has my eyes."

"Your stubbornness too!" he retorted.

Claude waved his hand, walking out the door and leaving the Petrelli mansion. Claire came down a few minutes later with Peter. Hiro, Ando and Isaac came from the foyer, greeting her. Claire smiled, hugging Hiro. She really loved the Japanese man. "Thanks Hiro, for helping to get me out of there," she said, and kissed his cheek.

Hiro blushed and hugged her once again. "You are important to the world, Claire and to all of us. Save the cheerleader, save the world," he said. Hiro looked back at Ando and the two of them stepped aside, as Isaac came forward.

The painter felt uncomfortable being with Claire, especially since Peter was standing right behind her. Their confrontation and fight earlier was still fresh on his mind. "You're back where you belong," he said.

"Isaac," Claire mused, "You can give me a hug if you want,"

Peter scowled but didn't lash out as Isaac hugged her. He was tempted to kiss her cheek but then Isaac knew that he would get a heavy whipping from Peter if he did. Instead, Isaac let go and quietly left.

tbc


	19. Chapter 19

5

Come What May (Chapter 19)

By obi's girl

The first time the company captured Sylar, they studied him like a science experiment. They held him in a cell without binding his hands and feet, and his only visitors were Thompson and Candice. Now, he was back again, locked away in one of the many company facilities. The company didn't take any chances this time. They continued to study him, but made sure that he was properly restrained and controlled.

He was kept secluded from the other heroes, so that he wouldn't be tempted to take their powers. And, though no one had mentioned their names in his presence, Sylar knew that Claire and Claude were in the facility. He was very aware of their presence, especially Claire's. He could never forget her scent.

He also knew about Candice's shape shifting ability and how convenient her power would become if he had the chance to sink his teeth into her brain. That would be a most useful power. Sylar also sensed a brief familiar presence with Claire before she and Claude escaped. He saved Claire at homecoming; he didn't know the extent of his ability but since then, his ability had matured and was stronger now. He became a hero, her hero.

All of them were safe now, celebrating the fact that they had their precious Claire back. Especially the mimic. But soon, very soon, the cheers and smiles would disappear, replaced by the screeching sounds of cries...and fear.

None of them were safe.

"Claire, I have no choice. I have to do this. Not just for you but for your friends too," Mr. Bennet explained. He'd spoken with the Haitian, who had informed Bennet that if he wanted to take down the company, he would have to join their ranks once again. Bennet tried to present his position to the Petrelli's and to Claire, but Claire wasn't having any of it. "Claire?"

Claire shook her head. "No!" she cried, "You don't have to do this, dad. There has to be another way."

"This is the best way," the Haitian offered, "Your father cannot stay here and hide from the company. He's the only one who can take them down."

"But why?" she cried. "The company already knows that you've betrayed them and you want to go back there and stop them?! That's suicide!"

Peter grasped Claire's hand but she shrugged him away. "No, Peter! This is ridiculous. You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Your father's doing this to protect you, Claire," the Haitian added, "You, your brother your mother…he's made his decision. You need to respect that."

Claire looked icily back at her father. She never accepted any of his decisions in the past, when it came to protecting her and her family, and Claire wasn't about to let him make another stupid decision that could cost him his life. "I don't have to respect this," she seethed. "You almost died once, Dad…but if you want to get yourself killed on some crazy suicide mission, that's your choice but don't expect me to accept it!" Claire stood abruptly from the kitchen table and ran upstairs.

Mr. Bennet sighed. Peter moaned, looking at his brother and his mom. The two of them hadn't said anything at all about the situation, and he wanted to know what they thought.

"Nathan?" Peter questioned.

"Theoretically, this gene mutation only occurs in families. I can fly, Peter can copy other people's ability and Claire can heal," he said, "Monty and Simon are boys; they're too young to acquire an ability, right?"

"Theoretically," the Haitian added, "The gene mutation can happen at any given time. Yours, Peter's and Claire happened to manifest later than expected but it could take effect in early childhood as well."

Nathan rubbed his chin, looking at Mr. Bennet. "And if you take down the company, then all of us will be safe? We won't be experimented on, the way Claire was?" he wondered.

"That's the reason why I have to go back," he said, "I know Claire doesn't understand that. She thinks this mission is suicide and maybe it is, but someone needs to take down the company before it's too late."

"Sometimes sacrifices have to be made during war," Angela pointed out, "If you need any help or assistance, the family will gladly provide any support that you need. I want Claire and my family to be safe from any harm."

Mr. Bennet smiled thankfully at her before turning his attention to Peter. He knew that he was inclined to side with Claire on this argument because of the danger involved and what it might cost her but Peter also knew that this was something that needed to be taken care of.

"Peter, you know that this was the reason why I came here," he said, "to take down the company."

"Funny, I thought the reason why you came here was to lead the company to Claire so they could study her," Peter retorted, "They wouldn't have known where she was if it weren't for you coming here."

"I know and, I hate that they found her, but this is for her; so she can finally have a normal life. So she can walk down the street without looking behind her," he explained, "I'm doing this for Claire. You have to understand that."

Peter sighed. He understood that, as he, too, would do anything for Claire; he loved her…but this was still a dangerous situation and it could backfire on all of them if it didn't work.

"Peter?" Bennet asked.

Peter stood. "I need to talk to Claire," he said, going upstairs.

Peter couldn't blame Claire for her anger. Going back to the company fold with the intent to destroy them from the inside was dangerous. And if Bennet failed, Claire would lose a father and Peter wanted to save her from that type of pain more than anything. On the other hand, if Bennet succeeded, none of them would have to hide anymore and could lead normal lives.

Still, he wondered, was it even possible to go back to a normal life after having lived an abnormal life?

"Claire, we need to talk," Peter called, knocking lightly on her bedroom door.

Claire threw open her door, glaring back at Peter. "You're on his side, aren't you?" she accused.

"I'm on no one's side," he said, going inside the room. "I understand how you feel about this. I do. But you have to understand why your dad's doing this."

"So I can have a normal life?" she wondered, sitting down on her bed. "I don't know how much of a normal life I can have considering that I can't get hurt or die."

"Okay," he agreed, "I get that. But wouldn't you rather have some semblance of a normal life? Claire, you deserve so much more than this…you deserve…"

Claire looked up at him suddenly. "To be with someone who's normal," she whispered, "Did it ever occur to you that doesn't matter to me, Peter?"

Peter sighed. "This is _not_ about us," he said.

Claire frowned. "That's weird because I could have sworn it was," she mused.

"Hey," Peter said, taking Claire's hand in his own, "I'm happy where I am, here with you. Never question that."

"I don't question that but," she cried, "What my dad wants to do…taking down the company won't change who we are, or what we are. I'll still be 'little miss miracle grow,' and you…" Claire froze, staring at Peter.

"And what?" he questioned. "Claire?"

Claire sighed. "When it was just me and Claude, he told me something about you. He said that since your ability was tied to your emotions, something could still set off the bomb. Peter, you could still explode and blow up New York," she said.

Peter frowned. "No, that's impossible," he fumed, "Besides, the deadline for the bomb has passed. It was supposed to go off the day after Nathan's election, and it didn't because of Claude's help. He helped me control it."

Claire looked away from him. Peter scowled. That wasn't the only thing the two of them talked about. There was something else. "Claire, what happened with Claude?" he questioned. "Claire?!"

Claire turned to look at him, shrugging him away. "Nothing happened with Claude. I just have other things on my mind," she retorted.

"What else is it?" he wandered, "Are you in love with him now?!"

"Claude? Eww! Gross," she cried, "I mean the British accent is appealing but he has that scruffy-looking beard and he hangs around pigeons a lot. Probably has pigeon pupe stains all over his clothes."

Peter's face softened, feeling an immense heat build up in his body. He hadn't felt it before but now, it felt like a very hot simmer and it only intensified when he was around Claire or least when he thought about Claire being with someone else. That's when he realized it: Claire was the trigger.

His mind flashed back to seeing Claire with Isaac at hospital and his almost very deadly confrontation with the painter before rescuing Claire from the company. He almost lost it then, and if he exploded, then Claire would still be with the company.

Claude was right all along. He needed to get rid of his distractions, and Claire was definitely one of those distractions. He needed to get away from her.

Claire frowned as Peter backed away from her slowly. "Peter? What is it? Peter?" she wandered. "Are you all right?"

He didn't say anything as he slipped out of the room. Claire ran after him but by the time she got came down the stairs, Peter was gone.

tbc


	20. Chapter 20

Come What May (Chapter 20)

By obi's girl

Claire couldn't believe that Peter just left. They hadn't resolved anything and now, she didn't know where he could have gone or if he was even coming back. Nathan noticed her on the stairs and came to see what was wrong. Mr. Bennet and Angela arrived after him.

"Claire, what happened? Where's Peter?" Angela demanded.

Claire came down the stairs, ready to confront her dad. She couldn't deal with this right now; it was bad enough that her dad wanted to take off and take down the company by himself but now, she had Peter to worry about. Everything was falling apart. It seemed like only moments ago, she was safe in Peter's embrace.

"Claire?" her dad questioned. "Where's Peter?"

She looked up at him coolly. "Are you still planning on leaving to take down the company?" she questioned.

"Of course," he said, bracing her shoulders. "Claire, what happened?"

"Peter's gone," she whispered, "We were just talking, and he took off. I think he made himself invisible."

Nathan groaned. His brother picked one hell of a time to run off. "Did he tell you where he was going?" he asked.

Claire shrugged. "No, he didn't. He just left," she mused, "I think Peter needs time to cool down and he'll be back."

"Or he's gone off and done something stupid," Angela said, "Perfect."

Claude was humming to himself as he was putting away his pigeons. He'd been away from them for too long…the cages were dirty and a couple had decided to take his absence as a chance to escape and find somewhere else to live. If Claire knew that this scruffy-looking bearded man with a love for pigeons was her old man, she'd probably run the other way.

The truth was Claude wasn't sure if at this point in his life he could be a good father to Claire and provide for her. He had no job, or even a public residence. He moved around a lot and what he didn't have, he always got using his invisibility. Since Claude left the company, he'd seen and done things he wasn't proud of and he doubted that Claire would be proud of him either.

Mr. Bennet could also at least take care of her and be there for her when she needed him. Claude couldn't do that and even when she was a baby, he didn't have the luxury. With Bennet, Claire was protected and loved and had a home.

Long ago, Claude wandered if there was anything in this life worth living for. He lost the woman that he loved, lost his daughter to his partner and became lost himself along the way. And now that he knew where Claire was, living in the Petrelli residence, it was hard for Claude to distance himself from her.

He thought about leaving New York but that idea didn't seem right, and he didn't want to abandon Claire. She deserved better than that.

Claude stopped humming as he closed the cages and as he turned, an angry Peter greeted him. He grabbed his shirt, lifting his body off the ground and shoved him against a brick wall. "You were supposed to help me control it but you only prolonged the inevitable," he seethed, "Why didn't you tell me that there was a trigger?"

Claude shrugged. "Look kid, I warned you about distractions and what would happen if you didn't get rid of them," he reminded him.

"And Claire? What is it with you and Claire?" he wandered, ignoring his response. "What were the two of you talking about before?"

He frowned. "I happen to like Claire; you've known about that all along since the beginning," he mused.

"No, it's more than that…"

"There's no bloody reason for you to be jealous, Peter," Claude retorted.

Peter let go of him and backed away. There was no reason for him to be jealous but something told him that there was something else Claude wasn't telling him about Claire. "Now that I think about it, I don't know who you are," he said.

Claude grinned. "That's crazy," he laughed, "You know who I am, mate,"

"Not your past," Peter whispered, looking seriously at Claude. "Why do you care so much for Claire?"

"Why do you?" he shot back.

"Because I love her," Peter retorted.

Claude straightened his coat. "So do I," he whispered, "but _not_ like that. I love her a different way…the way a father loves his child."

"This is perfect…" Nathan grumbled, looking at Claire. "What were the two of you talking about?" Nathan knew if Peter was upset with Claire, then it had to have been something she said to him. Maybe it was a lover's quarrel. "Well?"

Claire frowned and glared at him. "We were just talking," she said coolly, "All of the sudden, he ran out and left."

Mr. Bennet studied his daughter carefully. It hadn't been apparent to him before but now it was suddenly clear. "You were talking with Claude before," he added, "What were the two of talking about?"

Claire looked at her father oddly. She didn't see how her talking with Claude had anything to do with Peter running off but maybe she missed something. "We were just talking," she whispered, "Claude told me information about my biological parents."

Mr. Bennet looked down at Claire, bracing her wrists. "What did he tell you, Claire? I have to know what he told you!"

Claire could feel her father's grip tighten on her wrists and in the midst of struggling; she snapped both her wrists before breaking free. "Ow!" she cried, snapping both of them back into place. "What does it matter what he told me about them? They're probably both dead anyway…and this has nothing to do with what happened to Peter. Which by the way, I think we should stop arguing about and go out and look for him before its too late!"

Bennet backed away. "He told you that your parents were dead?" he questioned, "You believed him?"

Claire rubbed her wrists soothingly. "Of course, I believed him. Why shouldn't I have?" she asked, "Look, this arguing isn't helping things. We need to go looking for Peter," She waited for a response from all of them but the Petrellis and her dad stood there, staring at her, like she was talking in an alien tongue. "Fine! I'll go looking for him," she volunteered, grabbing her jacket.

Nathan moaned, rolling his eyes. "No wait, Claire, I'll go with you," he offered, following her.

Peter gasped, looking over his former mentor. Upon their initial meeting, Claude didn't strike him as father-type figure but he was wrong. But if he was really Claire's biological father, how come it was just coming out now? "Wait a minute, you've known Claire for a long time…if she was your daughter, how come you didn't recognize her when the two of you met?" he wandered.

Claude chuckled. "Probably because she was a wee baby when the company took her from me. I doubt that she would even remember, but I do," he said.

"Does Claire know?" Peter questioned.

Claude sighed. "I was thinking of telling her before you showed up to rescue us but I changed my mind afterwards," he mused. "I realized that I wasn't the most important person in her life anymore, and I have no right to take away the love she has for her current dad…even though I hate that man to death."

Peter frowned. "You know Mr. Bennet?" he added, realizing that this story had suddenly become a lot more interesting.

"I know him," he said, "I've known him for years. He was assigned to be my partner by the company. That's how the company operates. They pair those with abilities with someone who doesn't have any."

"Around the same time I started working with Bennet, on my off hours, I met this sweet blond girl. We fell in love and I loved her very much, and then one day, she became pregnant with a baby girl. Nine months after Claire was born, the company sent Bennet and I on an assignment to tag and capture a woman with the ability to create and manipulate fire."

"Anyway, once we arrived at the apartment I knew that it was all over for me. I had to warn Meredith so she could take Claire and run. So I told Hank to stay outside while I looked for her. Meredith was surprised to see me so she panicked and left the apartment in a blaze. Bennet came in and rescued her."

Peter listened to his mentor sympathetically as he continued. "The Company had no record of who the baby's father was, or at least that's what they thought. So they gave her to Bennet to raise as his own. He was to be her surrogate father but as you know, once her ability manifested, he was supposed to give her back to them to study."

"But he kept her from them," Peter realized, "He sent the Haitian to erase her memory of her ability so he could continue to hide her from them. What happened next?"

Claude sighed. "I never told Bennet the truth about Claire's parentage until that day on the bridge, when the company found out that I was hiding Claire's mum. He was supposed to kill me but I told him everything, I told him about Claire and I made him promise to look after her and be there for her. And he shot me. He bloody shot me!"

"But that's what the company told him to do," Peter pointed out, "If he hadn't, the company would have known that something was wrong."

"It would have been better if I just stayed dead," Claude sighed, "There was nothing else for me to live for. The company took away the woman I loved and I lost Claire."

"But you haven't lost Claire," he reminded him, "She's here. Destiny brought the two of you back together for a second chance, Claude. You have to tell her the truth,"

Claude frowned. "And what would I gain from telling her? She would just be disappointed in what I've become," he reasoned, "Bennet can be a better father for her. My time has passed,"

"No, it hasn't Claude," Peter reasoned, "You still have a chance to make things right."

"Do I now?" Claude asked, raising an eyebrow, "And what makes you say that?"

"Because you're going to help me stop from exploding, and then after, if we survive, you're going to tell Claire everything because she deserves to know the truth," Peter resolved.

Claude sighed. "You're all bloody stubborn," he mused, "Claire's stubborn too…she gets that from me."

Peter smiled.

tbc


	21. Chapter 21

Come What May (Chapter 21)

By obi's girl

Claire suggested that she and Nathan should first check out Mohinder's place. The idea that Peter was there didn't seem likely to Nathan, but, as he suspected Claire had other motivations, he went along with it. Once Claire knocked on his door, Mohinder opened it, smiling at Claire and nodding to Nathan.

"I need to ask you something about Peter," Claire started without preamble, pacing around the apartment. "Peter was supposed to explode the day after Nathan's election but that didn't happen because of Claude's intervention."

Mohinder nodded. "Theoretically, yes."

Claire glanced at Nathan before continuing. "When the company had me and Claude, Claude said something that stuck with me. He said that there was an emotional trigger that could still set off Peter…could he still explode?" she wondered.

Nathan looked at Claire and then to the doctor. He had assumed the since the bomb didn't go off, the world was safe and it could never happen again.

"I don't know…I suppose it could still happen," Mohinder said, sighing.

"Isaac painted an exploding man and New York being destroyed, and everything he's painted has come true –the fact that the explosion didn't happen when it was supposed to – doesn't that mean it could still happen?" Claire questioned.

Mohinder shrugged. "You were supposed to die at homecoming, Claire, but you didn't because of Peter's intervention," he reasoned, "I supposed because Peter found Claude before the explosion was supposed to happen, we were all saved." He paused.

"But there's something else," she whispered, taking note of his hesitation.

"String theory," Mohinder explained, "One event triggers other events to occur in a natural sequence…it's like dominoes. You tip over one domino and the other ones fall after it but if something were placed in between two dominoes, it would interrupt the sequence and the rest of them wouldn't fall."

Nathan stepped forward. "So, you're saying that we interrupted history by stopping the bomb when it was supposed to go off?"

"I think so," Mohinder mused, looking at Claire. "Why do you ask? Did something happen to Peter?"

"Peter's missing," she revealed, "He took off. But I noticed that there was something strange about the way he was acting before he left. Something I hadn't seen before. I thought maybe it had something to do with the bomb."

"What happened when you were talking with Claire that made you run off so suddenly?" Claude asked, studying Peter.

For a while with Claude's help, Peter had been able to control his ability but now, something was different. Something dark was happening to him. The first incident happened at the hospital when he saw Isaac with Claire. Naturally, he was jealous and angry with Isaac for using Claire. Then later, it happened again when he went with Hiro to see the painter. The two of them nearly came to blows over Claire, and then it happened again at the warehouse. The last time it happened again was when he was with Claire in her room, talking about the future and Claude.

Basically, whenever someone got close to Claire, something dark inside of him would react and Peter knew if he didn't learn how to control it – the next time he'd blow a fuse – Claire might be one of the casualties. He had to find a way to control it.

"I felt something grow inside of me…something very dark," Peter said, "It felt like a power surge…if I hadn't realized what was happening, I think I would have killed Claire."

Claude frowned. "I don't want that happening, especially considering that she's my kid," he said, "All right then, I guess we start over from the beginning."

Peter moaned. "Is that really necessary? I know how to pull out each ability separately. That's not a problem anymore. The problem is that I need to learn how to calm myself, especially when I'm around Claire," he said.

"My daughter makes you 'excited'?" Claude asked, raising his eyebrow suspiciously.

Peter shook his head. "That's not what I meant…I don't want to leave Claire – I love her – I just need to find a way to control this," he said.

"Well, I have one suggestion, Peter," Claude offered, "Get rid of your distractions,"

"No, I don't want to leave Claire. Haven't you been listening to me?" Peter cried.

Claude shrugged. "I have been listening to you, kid, and you need to get rid of your distractions if you don't want to blow up the city," he said, "And I never said that included leaving Claire."

Peter looked at him oddly.

Claude sighed and rolled his eyes. "Look, you're upset when you see other guys hanging around your girlfriend, right?" he proposed. "One way you won't blow a fuse is not to think about them. Only the truly paranoid boyfriend would think that every male passing by is out to steal his girl. And since you know my relation to Claire, you know I'm not out to take her from you."

"What about Isaac?" Peter asked.

"Isaac, I can't speak for," Claude reasoned, holding up his finger, "but if you do go over there, and I suspect that you will, you need to cool it, Peter. It won't help anyone if you go nuclear."

Claire sighed, exiting Mohinder's apartment with Nathan. She couldn't believe that Claude was right, that Peter could still explode and destroy all of New York. Now, she and Nathan needed to look for Peter. Claire hoped that wherever he was, Peter hadn't caused a lot of damage already.

Claire looked over at Nathan. "How far is Isaac's place from here?" she wondered.

"About two hours," he said, "I can fly us there…"

"No," Claire cried, "The last thing we need is to draw unwanted attention. Let's take a taxi."

Isaac sat back, looking over his sketchbook, as he had wanted to take a breaking from painting the future. Many of the earlier pages of the book were about his turbulent relationship with Simone but after Peter left with Claude, she pretty much disappeared from the picture. The last thing he heard about her was that she moved to Chelsea and opened a gallery of her own.

That was fine with Isaac. He and Simone used to be good together in the beginning but after Peter, things just went downhill. And then he met Claire and suddenly, everything stopped being so gloomy. She brought light back into his life. The only problem was that she was already taken and as much he liked her, it didn't feel right to take her from Peter.

Besides, he could see from the way the two of them acted around each other that they loved each other very much. There was no room for a place in Claire's life, other than being her friend.

Still, he couldn't stop thinking about her. To Isaac, even without her ability, Claire would still be special. Isaac looked down at the sketch on his lap and smiled.

_//Claire, //_he thought.

His head snapped up as he heard the door to the studio slam open. Isaac put down his sketchbook and stood up from his chair, looking around. He thought for a moment that the breeze made the noise and then realized that it was Peter.

"Peter?!" he called, "I know you're here. Show yourself!"

"You knew this was coming, Isaac. I warned you to stay away from Claire…" Peter said.

Isaac blinked, looking around the studio. "I have stayed away from her," he said slowly.

"Your word isn't enough, Isaac," Peter seethed, finally appearing in front of the painter. "You always want what you can't have, Isaac. Simone…and then Claire."

Isaac glared at him. "You forget, Peter, Simone was already mine to begin with," he said coolly, "You stole her from me!"

"Simone left you because you couldn't get your life together, Isaac…that wasn't my fault and now, I'm not going to let you take Claire away from me."

"I never stole her from you," Isaac spat back, "I care about her…I'll admit that. But she doesn't look at me the same way she looks at you!"

Peter scowled. "I bet you'd like it though if she looked at you that way, huh?!" he taunted, "A seventeen year-old fantasizing about you, and only you?"

"Why not?" Isaac shot back, "Claire has you, and she's barely legal!"

Peter held out his hand and tossed Isaac across the room via telekinesis. "Why don't you just admit that you've always been jealous of me?!" Peter continued, "And that everything you touch turns to ashes!"

Isaac glared at him as he tried to sit up. "If that were true, then I'd say that you were the one who destroys everything…Peter the Destroyer!" he yelled.

Peter pulled out a gun – the one he swiped from a drawer in Nathan's house before taking off. Isaac saw it and then looked at Peter. "Peter, I walked away from Claire because she loves you," he shouted anxiously, "Don't you get it?! You've won!"

"Not yet," Peter said, "Claude said that I needed to get rid of my distractions, and you know what? I agree with him for once!"

Isaac closed his eyes as Peter fired…

"Peter?!" Claire called, coming into the studio with Nathan. The place was eerily quiet as she and Nathan walked to the main area; Claire noticed scattered paint cans on the floor and she knew that Peter was there. Nathan held her hand as they walked further into the studio, dreading what else they would see.

"Claire?" Peter cried from the corner, standing over Isaac's dead body. His body had given out less than a minute after Peter had fired the gun and it still surprised him that he was capable of doing something like this.

Claire and Nathan finally found him. When Claire saw Isaac's dead body she looked over at Peter worriedly. "Peter…" she stammered, "What happened?!"

Nathan covered his mouth at the sight, and then turned his attention to his little brother. By now, Peter had become frantic as he stumbled away from Isaac's dead body.

"Peter!" Claire cried, "What did you do?!!"

"I killed him," he breathed and then looked guiltily at Claire, "I killed him for you…I need to get out of here…"

He started to move away but Nathan blocked him. "Pete, Pete, it's all right," Nathan soothed, "It was an accident."

Peter wiped his face, crying. "It wasn't an accident, Nathan. I killed a man, I murdered Isaac!" he screamed, "I need to get out of here."

"No, Peter, wait!" Claire called after him, "Peter, this wasn't your fault…you weren't yourself…you weren't in your right mind when this happened…" she cried, "We can fix this!"

"That's the thing Claire, I don't think we can," he whispered, going invisible and leaving the studio.

Claire looked back at Isaac's dead body and then to Nathan before kneeling down, looking at Isaac. She never realized the darkness that rested inside of her lover, and if he was capable of doing something horrible like this, then Peter could very well be capable of blowing of New York. Claire wasn't sure when the time came to face him, if she could stop him.

"What do we do now?" she cried.

"Okay," Nathan breathed, "I'll make an anonymous call that someone came in and attacked Isaac. I won't mention Peter's involvement…" Claire looked up at him. "There's something darker going on here than the company. Peter needs our help before he gets himself into even more trouble."

Claire agreed.

After Nathan made an anonymous call to the police department (he didn't mention that he and Claire were at the studio), they promptly left Isaac's place and returned to the Petrelli mansion. On the way over, Claire called Hiro and Ando, while Nathan made a separate call to Matt. All of them needed to meet as soon as possible, and figure out what to do next.

By the time, Claire and Nathan reached the mansion, Hiro and Ando were already there, transported from their apartment. Neither Claire nor Nathan mentioned on the phone why they needed to meet, but Hiro could sense after seeing Claire in a panicked state that something had happened with Peter.

"Claire, what happened?" Hiro asked, "Where's Peter?"

Claire didn't know what to say…she still couldn't digest the fact that Peter murdered someone. And not just anyone – Isaac. She was disturbed that Peter could do something like this…it didn't seem like Peter at all. Claire still expected that Peter would walk through the front door, smile at her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

But Claire knew that wasn't the case.

"Claire and I found him at Isaac's studio but," Nathan said, bracing her shoulders, "Isaac was already dead when we got there…Peter killed him and then he took off after we got there."

Hiro frowned as Mr. Bennet stepped forward. "We have to find him then before he causes anymore damage," Bennet reasoned.

Claire looked icily at her dad…Damage? How could Peter cause any more damage? Just because he killed someone didn't make him a monster. Peter wasn't himself, and he needed their help. He didn't need his friends to turn their backs on him. Claire especially didn't want to accept that Peter was lost. Not yet.

"Peter's not a murderer," she declared staunchly, "This isn't who he is…he's sick and needs our help."

"Claire," her dad added, "He killed Isaac. You and Nathan were there…you saw his body…I know this is something you don't want to accept but Peter isn't the same anymore. He's different now."

"He's not a murderer!" she shouted, "Peter's sick and he needs our help before it's too late," Claire turned back to Nathan. "By the time we got to Isaac's studio, it was already late which means that he hadn't been there the whole time."

Nathan shrugged. "That's hard to say, Claire," he mused, "but it's possible."

"Claire, what are you thinking?" Mr. Bennet questioned.

Claire turned to him. "I think he went to see Claude before going to Isaac's," she said.

"How do you know that he did that?" Bennet asked.

"Because Peter and I were talking about Claude before he took off," she reasoned, "And if he saw Claude first, then I need to talk to him about Peter. He said that there was a trigger but there has to be a way to turn off the trigger too. Claude would know that."

Mr. Bennet sighed. "Claire, I don't think rushing off to see Claude is a good idea. We'll find another way to help Peter," he said.

Claire frowned, looking skeptively at her dad. She didn't need Matt by her side to know that there was something her dad was hiding. Knowing that she cared deeply about Peter's well being, he should have agreed with her that Claude was the only other person who would know to stop Peter before it was too late. But for some reason unknown to her, her dad was hesitant to see Claude, or even let her go anywhere near him. But why? Claire shook her head.

"Look Dad, Claude's the only other person that would know how to help Peter – he may even know where to find him," she pleaded. "I have to try!"

"But you don't even know where to find him," Bennet countered, "The man is invisible – he could be anywhere and if he's aware of Peter's problems, then I doubt that he'd stay in the city. He probably left already!"

Claire nodded. "No, Claude wouldn't do that. Especially when he might know how to stop Peter," she reasoned, "And I do know where to find him, on top of the Deveaux building,"

Mr. Bennet frowned. "Are you sure that you want to go back there? The last time you were there, the company found you, Claire. They could do it again!" he cried.

"The company found you, Dad," she shot back, "And besides, I'm not going there alone. Nathan's coming with me."

"And me too," Hiro volunteered.

Claire smiled at him. "Thanks Hiro, but that's not necessary," she said, looking back at her dad. "I'll be all right."

Mr. Bennet sighed. Nothing he said was going to stop Claire from seeing Claude. He realized that now but he wasn't about to give up his parental rights. In his mind, Claire was his daughter in every way. Claude had no attachment to her and he was determined to keep it that way as long as he could.

"Then I'm going with you," he volunteered, "I'm not letting you out of my sight, Claire,"

"Fine," she agreed angrily, "I don't want to argue anymore." She, Nathan and Mr. Bennet walked towards the door, and as Nathan opened it, Claude greeted them.

He smiled, staring back at Claire. Claire looked back at him and smiled too. Claude caught sight of Mr. Bennet beside her but ignored him. "I saw you and Nathan arrive at the studio," he started, "Are you all right, Claire?"

"I was a little shaken up before but I'm fine now," she said and turned to look at her dad. "Actually, we were just leaving to see you about Peter."

Claude grinned. "Oh," he mused, "You want to know if there's a way to stop him."

"Is there?" Claire questioned.

Claude shrugged, walking inside the mansion and to the living room. "You figure if there was trigger that could set him off, then there'd also be a way to shut him off," he reasoned, "but what that 'off' switch is, I don't know. It could be anything."

Claire looked back at him solemnly, arms crossed. "Peter killed Isaac," she said, "but it was an accident. He wasn't in his right mind when it happened."

Claude froze, staring blankly at her. "Peter killed the painter?" he questioned, "Oh, bloody hell…"

"Peter came to see you, right?" she questioned, "We were talking about you before he took off...he had to have come to see you."

Claude sighed. "He did…but look Claire…I'm sorry this happened. I know how much you care about him but I did everything I could to help him control this thing." he cried.

She smiled kindly. "I know you did, Claude. I don't blame you. The truth is, I blame myself. Peter and I sort of forced this job on you without thinking if this was a permanent solution or a temporary one," she said, "You did the best that you could under the circumstances."

Claire could have sworn that he blushed but hid it. Standing back, Mr. Bennet didn't appreciate the closeness between them and stepped in. "You did your best, Claude, but it wasn't enough," he said firmly, "You let Claire down."

Claude scowled, glaring at his former partner. "Claire never said that," he shot back, "And I don't think that she believes that either, Hank."

Claire frowned, looking back at her dad and then to Claude. How could Claude know her dad's first name if they'd only met recently? Before she could question both of them, Nathan diplomatically stepped in.

"All right, all right," Nathan said soothingly. "Where's the first place we should start looking for my brother? He won't go back to Isaac's studio obviously and he's already seen you, Claude…"

"He wants to get as far away from me as possible," Claire realized, "He's going to leave the city."

tbc


	22. Chapter 22

Come What May (Chapter 22)

By obi's girl

Peter Petrelli watched solemnly as cops searched through Isaac's studio. Isaac's body had been taken away a little more than an hour ago but, despite what happened, Peter couldn't bring himself to leave the studio. So he stayed, watching the scene, invisible as detectives and CSI investigators combed the studio.

More than anything, Peter wished he could take back Isaac's death. It was no secret that Peter disliked the painter, and the fact that Isaac and Claire became closer in Peter's absence, made Peter very jealous and overprotective of Claire. But now that Isaac was out of the way, Peter didn't know how he could face Claire again. He killed someone.

Peter could still remember Claire standing over him, her face distraught and confused as Isaac's dead body lay beside him. He couldn't have known what was going through her mind at that point but Peter knew what he had to do. He had to get out of there and disappear.

So he disappeared. But he didn't leave the building; in fact, he waited for the police to arrive. He watched all of them as they came inside the studio. By then, Claire and Nathan had already left to return to the mansion.

It occurred to Peter that he could return to the mansion as well but he was afraid to. He wasn't the same naïve Peter anymore, and it seemed being around Claire only brought out the worst in him.

He thought back to what Claude said to him earlier on the roof about there being a trigger, and thought, what if Claire was the trigger? What if she was the one who made him explode? What if the anger inside of him wasn't set off by the amount of abilities in his body, but his rage and anger…and even worse…if Claire was the trigger – that meant that Peter wasn't only angry with Isaac but Claire, too.

Once he started thinking about why he would be angry with Claire, Peter got angry with himself for being angry with Claire. This was Claire. The girl he saved in Odessa, the same girl who considered him her hero. To Peter, there wasn't anyone else but her. Everything was for her. Everything he did was for her. Including killing Isaac.

Of course, Peter knew that Claire would not approve of what his actions, but Peter didn't see how he could take everything back now. Isaac was dead. Claire was probably horrified of him and even if he went back to her, Peter doubted that she would take him back considering what had happened.

He was lost and doubted that even the indestructible cheerleader could help him.

"What's the fastest route out of the city?" Claire wondered, directing the question towards Nathan.

He shrugged. "There's an overpass not far from Broadway but considering the condition that Peter's in, I doubt he would go that way,"

Claire frowned. "Then what would he do? Where would he go?" she asked frantically.

"Fly," Angela stated, coming down the stairs, "It's too late for him to rent a car and drive out of the city but if he flew, using Nathan's ability, he could get out quicker and no one would notice him,"

"Right," she mused, and looked pointedly at Nathan.

Nathan caught the look in her eyes and backed away. "No, Claire – absolutely not! I nearly got caught that time," he protested, "It's too dangerous…"

"But that was during the day," she reasoned, "Like your mom said, it's getting darker now...no one would see us. Don't you want to help Peter?"

"All right," he conceded finally, "but go get a jacket. It's supposed to be chilly out tonight…I'll meet you in the garden."

Claire smiled; as she was going to get a jacket Claude stopped her. "Be careful, love," he said.

"I will," she promised and turned to leave, joining Nathan in the garden.

"Claire," Claude called and she turned around to look at him, "If you and Nathan can't find him, I'll be at the Deveaux building later…on the off chance that Peter might still be around there lurking about."

She smiled at him, before joining Nathan. Claude watched as she grabbed hold of him and they flew off together. He turned to leave himself but his former partner blocked his way. "Do you mind, Hank?" Claude said pointedly.

"I mind," Bennet seethed, "I told you to stay away, Claude."

"Sorry, but where Claire is concerned, I couldn't leave her," Claude reasoned, "And now if you excuse me, I'm going to help in the search. I think I know where the kid might be."

"I'll go with you then."

"No, I don't think so. You need to stay here with Hiro – I'll look for Peter," he retorted, "Besides, don't want you pulling a gun on me again." Claude backed away, turned invisible and walked out the door.

Peter looked over the edge, nearly twenty stories below him. It would have been so easy to jump, to end it all but as soon as he looked over the ledge he remembered that he could use Claire's power to heal. Also, not would only would she be hurt by his attempted suicide but his brother, his nephews and his mom would mourn him.

But truthfully, Peter felt dead inside already. Everything was darkness and at this point, he didn't see how he could go back to Claire with all of these dark thoughts in his head. Could she even understand? Would she want to?

_//You mine as well do it then and get it over with, Peter, //_ a voice breathed into his ear.

"No, there's a way…I can end this…I don't have to explode…" he whispered.

_//Isaac painted you, Peter, you exploded and destroyed half of the city, //_ the voice continued_, //And you of all people know Isaac's paintings come true. Accept your fate, // _

Peter breathed slowly as he backed away from the ledge and turned to face the voice. He cocked his head to one side as he noticed a tall man standing a foot away from him, his figure covered in shadows. "Who are you?!" he demanded.

The figure laughed. _//If you want to be technical about it, I'm your subconscious…and as your subconscious – I say that you should leap over this building and kill yourself. You don't want to blow up New York…you love this city and Claire. If you kill yourself, then at least you'll have saved the city and protected Claire from a massive explosion that would kill everyone around her. //_

"Suicide is not the answer," Peter seethed, "There has to be another way…"

_//There is. Turn around. Walk towards the ledge and jump, //_ the voice reasoned, _//Your heart doesn't want to give up but your mind, your subconscious knows that this is the only way to end it all to protect everyone you love. //_

Peter looked back at the ledge. Twenty stories. The fall would crush his body upon impact; he would have perhaps two seconds of breath before his lungs gave out.

_//Jump, Peter. Take a chance, //_ the voice continued, _//It's the only way to save Claire. Save the cheerleader, save the world, remember? You saved the cheerleader, now it's time for you to save the world – from you. Jump. // _

Peter glanced over at the ledge again and then to at the figure, but it was gone.

Claire still shivered as she held onto Nathan's waist, flying over the New York cityscape. The cold wasn't the only thing bothering her She still couldn't get it out of her mind that Peter had killed Isaac and vanished into thin air. Claire was shocked to see him standing over Isaac's body but what was even more surprising was seeing the remorse and the disgust in his eyes. He knew what he did, and Peter – the Peter Claire knew -- couldn't believe that he'd done it.

It couldn't have been him. He was sick, like she said. His judgment had been clouded, and his abilities, although concentrated, were beginning to consume him. Maybe it was too late to save him, but Clare didn't want to believe that yet.

There had to be a way to save him. He saved her once, and now it was her turn to save him from himself. Claire held her head up, the wind brushing through her blonde hair as Nathan continued flying over the city.

Suddenly, Claire noticed Peter's figure standing on a building. She also noted that he was standing very close to one of the ledges. He planned to jump. Claire looked nervously at Nathan and he started to dive down but Claire tugged his shirt, staring at Peter.

"No!" she cried, "Drop me!"

Nathan looked at her incredulously. "Claire, are you crazy? That's a ten-mile drop! You'll be killed!" he screamed over the rushing breeze.

"Drop me, Nathan!" she demanded, "I know, Peter. He won't let me fall,"

Nathan hesitated a moment and then made a quick overpass before Claire let go of his shirt, falling fast through the sky. Peter still stood below, unaware of Claire's falling. She could always scream. Claire inhaled deeply and then let out the loudest scream her lungs could handle.

Peter looked around himself, thinking that the voice had returned and then looked to the sky as Claire's body continued to fall. His breath caught in his throat as he realized it was her. He backed away from the ledge and flew up into the sky, grabbing Claire in his arms and flew away as Nathan looked on from behind.

"Claire, what the hell were doing?!" he demanded, "You could have been killed!"

Claire started crying and hugged him, laughing. "You wouldn't have let me fall," she cried happily.

Peter looked at her oddly. "Wait a minute, you faked that?" he questioned, "Claire, that was very stupid! What if I hadn't looked up and seen you?"

"But you did look up," she pointed out, "You're totally my hero, Peter 'flying' Petrelli,"

Peter shook his head and couldn't help but laugh himself. His mind flashed back to that moment in the cell, to his first meeting with Claire. She was important to saving the world but he didn't know how important until now. 'Save the cheerleader, save the world.' What Future Hiro really meant was 'save the cheerleader, you save yourself.'

He needed Claire to remind him of that. Claire snuggled closer to his neck. "I love you, Peter," she whispered, "No matter what, I love you."

"I know, Claire," he said, "And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ran from you when you only wanted to help me,"

"You were scared," she reasoned, "I was scared, too. Peter, what happened to Isaac was an accident…"

"But I killed him," he cried.

Claire soothed him. "It was an accident and I refuse to believe otherwise," she declared, looking down. They were above the Deveaux building and Claude was there. Peter noticed where they were too and he landed on the roof.

"Oh good, you found him!" Claude exclaimed, "I knew you would!"

Claire smiled at him thankfully. "Of course, I did," she exclaimed, glancing over at Peter. "Now we can all go home."

Claire turned to leave but Peter stood still, looking pointedly over at Claude. She stopped, noting the shared looks between them and frowned. "What is it?" she wondered.

_//Tell her, //_ Peter cried, _// This is the time, Claude. Her father's not here…Claire has your attention. Tell her that you're her biological father. // _

Claude gulped. "Claire, before the two of you go back, there's something I need to talk to you about," he started, "Something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time."

Claire glanced at Peter and at Claude. "What is this about?" she asked.

"It's about you, Claire – and me," he said, "Claire, remember before Peter came and rescued us from the company? I wanted to talk to you about your family, your biological parents…"

"Yeah, I remember," she mused, "but you said later that my mom was likely dead and my dad could be anywhere."

Claude looked over at Peter and then into Claire's eyes. "I lied, Claire," he admitted, "Not about your mum though. I really don't have any idea where she is, or if she's still alive but I lied about your father."

Claire frowned. "Why would you lie to me about my dad?" she wandered, "Is there something about him that I don't know?"

Claude scratched the back of his head before continuing. "Oh believe me, Claire, there's a lot of stuff about your dad you don't know but I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about him," he said.

She gestured that he could continue.

"There's no easy to say this so I'm just going to say it: Claire, I'm your father…your biological father," he breathed, looking at her nervously. Her eyes widened.

"Not too long after I started with the company, I met your mum, a rather fiery woman, and we fell in love, and she became pregnant with you. It was the happiest moment of my life. I had my girl, we were going to have a baby girl together and I had my job, working for the company. I had a partner whom I trusted with my life. Everything was perfect."

Claire sniffled a little. "What happened?" she asked, though she had some idea of what would come next.

"A little while after you were born, the company sent my partner and I out on an assignment to bag and tag a fire starter, your mother. Once we arrived at the apartment number, I knew my life was over. I couldn't back out of the assignment so I went in first; you were lying in your crib in the living room. I came in invisible but as soon as I showed my face, your mum flipped out and sparked a fire before leaving the apartment."

"The fire was so harsh, my partner barged into the apartment just in time to take you from your bassinet and whisk you to safety."

"The company couldn't find my mom or my dad so they gave me to Bennet to take care of, until my ability developed," Claire finished, "My dad already told me part of this story, though I thought I already knew all of the details except for the fact that you were my dad's partner."

Claude nodded. "He was my partner," he verified, "We were friends, too. Good friends until the company ordered him to kill me if I didn't tell them where your mum was."

"You were hiding her from them?"

"I had to, otherwise they would run their tests on her, let her go with a mark and she would be running for the rest of her life," Claude said, "She ran for as long as she could until I couldn't find her anymore."

"So you don't know what actually happened to her?"

"I should have died that day but I kept on living, and I didn't know why until I found you again, Claire," Claude said, smiling.

Claire was silent for a moment as she walked around a bit, staring up at the sky. Everything Claude said to her and what her dad told her about her mom was starting to make sense. There was a reason for all of this, and in the end, they were all connected to each other. Without Isaac's painting, Peter would have never found Claude and without Peter, Claire would have never met Claude. It was the domino effect in action.

Looking at Claude, Claire felt like she was seeing him for the first time. Never once did she realize the similarities between them, the blondish-brown hair, and the greenish-blue eyes. How many times had she seen those eyes in her memory? They were always so kind and forgiving.

She remembered seeing him once at a family barbeque, entertaining her with an invisibility magic trick while her dad worked the grill. Not surprisingly, he wasn't the only one from the company there as Roberts and white-haired man also attended.

A hidden memory.

But that wasn't the only memory she had of him. There were also the teddy bears on her bed. Teddy bears from around the world. Her dad would bring home and tell her that they were from his partner. Claire remembered naming each one of them, and yes, she'd even named one 'Claude,' after the man who gave them to her.

Claire smiled thoughtfully to herself, and turned to face Claude. "Teddy bears," she said, "I named one after you."

Claude smiled. "I know," he whispered, "It was your favorite."

tbc


	23. Chapter 23

Title: Come What May - CHAPTER 23 OF 30

AUTHOR: obisgirl

Rating: PG-13 (non-incest)

Characters: Peter/Claire

Summary: Five months after Peter "left" with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every day he's gone, Claire begins to doubt that he'll come back.

Spoilers: Company Man

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, just borrowing. All NBC's and Tim Kring's. Please don't sue!

NOTES: First half is beta'd by NYCitygurl, and then by shoduna.

Chapter Rating: Mild NC-17

By the time Peter, Claude and Claire arrived back at the mansion, Nathan was already talking to Claire's dad, who didn't look too pleased with what Nathan was telling him. It didn't matter anyway because Claire was less than pleased with her father at the moment as she marched over towards him. Before she could get any closer, Claude stopped her.

"Claire, are you sure you want to do this?" he questioned, "It isn't so bad having two dads that love you, if you think about it…"

"I deserve to know the truth and I want to hear it from him," she retorted, walking past Claude towards her adoptive father.

Mr. Bennet smiled thankfully at her as she stood a respectful distance from her dad. He noticed that Claude was with her but he ignored him as he bent down and hugged her. Any other time, Claire wouldn't have minded him hugging her but now, it felt so fake coming from him. He backed away, brushing aside her bangs.

"You found Peter," he stated, as he came up beside Claire. "Good to see that you're all right,"

Nathan smiled thankfully at his brother, too. All four of them stood in an awkward silence until Claire spoke again. "Dad, I need to talk to you about something," she started.

"Is this about me going back to the company again?"

"No, but it kinda has to do with them," she admitted, glancing briefly at Claude before continuing, "When the company gave me to you, how old do you think I was?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Nine months old, or so," he said, "The company didn't know either…" Mr. Bennet studied his daughter carefully and then Peter and Claude. "Claire, why are you bringing this up now?"

"Just curious," she mused, "I just thought because the company gave me to you as a baby that they would have told you how old I was, but I guess I was wrong. My biological parents would know though, right?"

"Yeah, they would know that information," Bennet confirmed.

"I guess I could have asked Claude about that after he told me that he was my biological father," she retorted, staring coldly at Mr. Bennet, who frowned at his former business partner.

Nathan looked from Peter to Claire. Claude was Claire's father. He hadn't seen that one coming. Apparently, neither had Mr. Bennet.

"Claire, can we talk about this later?" asked Mr. Bennet quietly.

Months ago, before she left Odessa to find Peter, Claire was furious with her dad but she managed to forgive him for doing what he had to do to protect her. Now, however, lying to her about her parentage was the last strike. He knew. He had known about her biological parents since coming to New York. Did he honestly think that keeping the truth from her would help her cope with her abilities?

Claire needed answers then, and she demanded answers now. Unless Claude was a dangerous man (and Claire didn't think he was), Mr. Bennet had no other reason to purposely lie to her about her parentage.

"You've lied to me about a lot of stuff in my life, Dad," she fumed, "But I am not letting this go so easily. You knew about Claude this whole time and you said to me that you didn't know anything about him. You lied to me!"

"Claire, can we talk in private?" Mr. Bennet asked again, trying to discreetly move her away from the rest of the group. Hiro and Matt, and the newly arrived Angela and Heidi were immediately intrigued by the confrontation between father and daughter. Even if Claire went with him into another room to talk privately about this, all of them would still be curious about what was going on.

But Claire didn't want to leave, especially since she had Matt's ability to read her dad's mind. In fact, as she thought that, Matt made his way over to Claire's side as she defiantly crossed her arms, looking pointedly at him, waiting for an explanation.

"First of all, Claire, I did not steal you away from Claude. I didn't even know that Claude had a life outside of the company," Mr. Bennet managed, looking briefly at his former partner. "You know the stereotypes…invisible man…loner…"

"Oh, thanks a lot for that…. bloody American television," Claude muttered, rolling his eyes.

"And?" Claire questioned.

"Secondly, yes, you were an assignment, Claire, and although I did lie to you about many things, I never lied to you when I said, 'I love you,' Claire-bear," he said.

Claire looked over at Matt; he nodded to her. "He's telling you the truth, Claire," he verified, "Cute nickname by the way."

"Thanks," she said plainly, "But why keep me from my biological parents? You knew who Claude was after Peter rescued us from the company!" Despite her anger, Claire's voice calmed down.

He shrugged. "I know Claude, and I didn't want you to be disappointed in the type of person he is."

"I'm not disappointed, Dad," Clare said angrily, "Claude and I talked a lot on our way over here, and one thing I could definitely tell was that he truly loves me. He loved me even when he thought he'd never see me again"

"I love you too," Mr. Bennet said, "Doesn't that count?"

"It does," she said hopelessly, "but you've lied to me so many times, Dad…I don't even know if I can trust you anymore. You want to go back to the company, you led the company to me…how do I know when you go back to the company, you won't stay there forever?"

"Because you have my word, Claire," Mr. Bennet reasoned.

Claire laughed. "Your word, oh yeah, that's rich," she retorted, "You've lied to me my whole life and you expect me to believe what you're telling me now? It doesn't work that way."

"Claire, I'm your father…"

"No!" she cried, holding up her finger, "You were. You don't even know how difficult this is for me; to question everything you've done and said to me…this isn't just some small matter that can be taken care of with milk and cookies. You purposely hid my parentage from me!"

Mr. Bennet shook his head. "He begged me to keep you safe and that's exactly what I did," he mused.

"Because you shot him," she spat back.

"I had to…I was only following orders."

Claire looked over at Matt. "He's telling the truth," Matt confirmed, "If he hadn't shot Claude, then he would have been suspected of helping him escape"

Bennet smiled thankfully at Matt, who didn't smile as he continued to read Bennet's mind. Claire stood there, staring coldly back at her father. "Is that it?" she wondered.

"No," he said, "After I shot Claude, he vanished. I looked over the railing and I didn't see a body anywhere. I assumed that he died."

Mr. Bennet stood up to his daughter. "You see Claire, I never told you anything about Claude because I thought that he'd died that day. I never thought that he'd somehow survived or moved elsewhere, or that one day he would be reunited with you."

"But he still thought about it, day and night," Matt added, "He thought about what would happen to your relationship once you were together again. He thought that you would love him less because he wasn't biologically your father…and that you would choose to be with Claude instead."

Claire looked back at her dad. She could see why he had those fears but he also had to have known that despite all his lies, she still loved him too. Claire even loved him now.

"All I ever wanted was some truth into my life, Dad," she said calmly, "Something that was real!" Claire glanced briefly at Peter before running upstairs, crying.

Peter sighed, looking over tersely at Mr. Bennet, who in turn glared back at Claude. If Peter weren't standing between them, he was sure that Bennet would have attacked Claude for telling Claire the truth. But Claire needed to hear it. After all she had been through, she needed something real in her life.

He looked over at Matt. "Stay here, and mediate between these two while I talk to Claire," he said, rushing upstairs to her room. Matt agreed and Hiro stepped in with his sword, though he hoped not to use it.

The last time Peter was in Claire's room, he ran off suddenly because of his foul temper. He feared if he stayed there any longer, then he would have done something bad to Claire and Peter didn't even want to think what that 'bad' something was.

Claire sat on her bed, holding a pillow to her chest as she cried, feeling so lost and confused. She loved her dad and Claude but at the same time, she hated her dad for keeping this from her for as long as he did.

"Claire?" Peter rasped, "Are you all right?"

She sniffled, and looked at Peter, her eyes red and swollen from crying. "Everything is just so messed up right now," she cried.

"It doesn't have to be, though," Peter offered, sitting beside her on the bed. "You have two fathers that love you very much…. that's more than anyone could want."

"Except that one lied to me about my whole life," she said, "How could he do that to me, Peter? I asked him point blank on the roof before he was shot, no more lies, and he lied to my face about my biological parents."

Peter shrugged, gently placing a hand on Claire's shoulder. "He didn't know if Claude survived or not…" he soothed.

"And that's supposed to make a difference?" she shot back, tossing away the pillow as she stood up abruptly. "I loved him, Peter. I trusted him. I thought he was the best dad in the world, and I was so lucky to have him in my life."

Peter looked at her sympathetically.

"All I've wanted was something real in my life," she continued to rant, staring at Peter before rushing over to the bed, kissing him passionately. "Something real,"

Peter kissed her back, relishing the feel of her body against his. Claire clung to him like a rag doll, forcing him back onto the bed. Peter didn't mind until he felt Claire's small hands reach down his shirt and he realized what she wanted. "Claire, no, we can't do this..." he started to protest between kisses. "You're upset – this isn't right."

"This is so right," she breathed into his ear seductively, "You and I were destined to be together, Peter. You said it yourself."

"I know but this isn't right now," he said, trying to free himself from beneath her but his wiggling only enticed Claire. Peter blushed, also feeling, that he was excited to be near her – and oh God, he wanted this as she did but considering the situation, Peter knew it wasn't right.

"Peter, please," she begged, "Make love to me now."

"Claire," be breathed, "I love you, and I do want you – I want you so much but now isn't the right time for this."

Claire scowled, backing away as she straddled both of his legs. "You want to run away then?" she questioned, "Fine. Run away, Peter"

Peter didn't move, and Claire glared at him. "Well?" she asked.

"I can't move," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because you're sitting on my legs"

Claire looked down and moved aside, letting him sit up. Peter was halfway off the bed when Claire pinned him again, smiling seductively but this time, there was something else there Peter hadn't ever seen before: desire. And a strong desire to be with him, to dull away her pain and feel something that was real and perfect.

"Peter, I love you," Claire confessed, once again reaching under his shirt, "I want you. I want all of you…I'm ready now."

Peter should have protested at that moment but instead, he locked the door using telekinesis and let Claire remove his shirt and kiss him. He wanted this too. He'd been dying for this moment ever since he had to leave Claire to start his training with Claude. Both of them had been heading towards this moment for a long time, and now, there was no turning back.

"You shouldn't have come back, Claude," Hank seethed, glaring at his former partner.

Claude, on the other hand, didn't seem to care that Mr. Bennet was angry with him. He didn't have to answer to him for anything. He stayed away because he didn't think there was anything for him to come back to until he found Claire again. Claude may have lost the woman he loved, but he refused to lose his daughter too.

"Sorry I couldn't stay dead long enough for you," Claude retorted, "but you seem to forget, Hank, I gave you temporary custody of Claire. Temporary doesn't mean permanent."

Mr. Bennet grunted. "Seems to me you didn't really have a choice in the matter," he said, "You weren't willing to come forward earlier and claim her when the company went searching for her biological father."

"I could have stepped forward then – that's true – but it wouldn't have helped Claire's situation then," he said, "If the company knew then that I was her father, they would know that I knew about her mom and they would have found her."

Matt frowned, reading both men's thoughts and then shook his head. "Speaking of Claire's mom, do either of you know whatever happened to her?" he wondered.

Claude looked at him. "I hid her from the company for as long as I could but then she decided that she would fair better on her own, so she left. I don't know what happened to her," Claude admitted.

"See, you drove her away – the same way you drove Claire away," Hank said pointedly.

"How could I drive Claire away when she was taken from me to begin with?" Claude spat back, "One of these days, you better watch your back Bennet."

"I'm just as fast with a gun now as I was then, Claude," he warned.

Hiro frowned, stepping between the two of them. "No shoot, no shoot!" he cried, "Killing isn't going to help anyone!"

"Hiro's right," Mr. Bennet conceded, "I doubt killing you would make Claire happy."

Claude grinned. "I wouldn't put it past him to put a bullet in my back though, Hiro," he reasoned, "He did it once – and he'll do it again."

"No one is shooting anyone," Matt stated reasonably, "Obviously, the two of you have some issues that need to be worked out. Decades of animosity but you need to think about Claire in this situation. What she wants and needs, and what she needs…" Matt started and then stopped, sensing Claire's and Peter's thoughts. Matt gulped, and blushed a little before turning his attention back to Claude and Mr. Bennet. "On second thought, I think everyone's been through a lot tonight, and need time to digest everything."

"I agree," Claude said and looked casually at his former partner, "Let's call it night then and save tomorrow for more arguing? How about that?"

Mr. Bennet looked again at Matt and then glanced upstairs. "All right, but I want to talk to Claire first," he said, heading for the stairs.

Matt groaned, running to the foot of the stairs and blocked him. Mr. Bennet frowned as Claude looked on curiously. "When I meant that everyone needs time to digest everything that's happened, I also meant Claire too," he said, "That girl has been through a lot, and it's late. She probably cried herself to sleep."

"I don't want to leave things with Claire like this until morning," Hank said, "She needs to understand that everything I have done was to protect her and our family."

Claude grunted. "I'm sure she gets the protection bit, Hank," he mused, "but I doubt she can easily forgive you for lying to her."

"Even so," Hank said, "I still need to try,"

Matt moaned as Mr. Bennet walked passed him up the stairs. He needed to stop Mr. Bennet from walking in on Claire and Peter. "Well, what are you going to say her?" he asked, "What can you really say to her that will sound like a reasonable explanation for lying to her for sixteen or seventeen years?"

"Actually, she's almost eighteen," Claude pointed out.

"Almost eighteen…that's bad," he breathed, "I mean, it's bad because she's growing into a young woman now and this whole situation already leads to even more confusion about her identity as a person."

//Please, let him buy that explanation, // Matt hoped.

"Claire knows who she is," Mr. Bennet said, "No matter who her parents are, it still doesn't change who she is."

"Yes, that's true," Matt agreed, "But still, what could you say to her?"

Mr. Bennet was silent for a moment; he glanced at Claude briefly and then looked upstairs. He turned around, going back down. Matt smiled, grateful that he was finally seeing his point. "All right, I'll leave her alone tonight but tomorrow, we still need to talk about this," he said.

"I agree," Claude added, going to the living room to watch some TV.

Mr. Bennet went to the kitchen to find something to drink. Matt sighed, looking over at Hiro. He smiled, fixed his glasses and teleported out of there.

"I am in so much trouble," Matt breathed.

Peter stared deeply into Claire's green eyes, trying to memorize all of her features; the way her blond curls came down around her face and lightly tickled his skin, her luscious lips and tanned skin. Before Claire, he thought he knew what it was like to be in love with someone so completely, and then he met Claire and being with her turned his life around. He loved her so much, and would always love her.

Now, they were here at this moment. Claire had also become acutely aware of the situation but didn't seem frightened, because she was with him. Peter kissed her again, still feeling at the back of his mind that he should have backed away.

As much as he wanted this, he felt that the timing wasn't right. Somehow, Peter always imagined that his first time with Claire would be something special and romantic, maybe something with candles, mood music and flower petals. Claire probably imagined the same thing too but at the moment, those expectations weren't important to her.

Claire kissed him, wrapping her body around him and smiled. "I wonder, if I give you hickie, will it heal?" she joked.

"I don't know," he shrugged and looked at her seriously again, "Claire, are you sure that you want to do this? I mean, we could wait if you wanted too?"

Claire put her finger to his lips. "No more waiting," she whispered, "I've already been through so much Peter; I don't care about anything else anymore – except for you of course."

"But what about --?" he started.

Claire kissed him again. "No more questions," she purred, "I'm not going to regret this tomorrow, and tonight is all ours."

Peter looked down at both of their bodies and gulped. Both of them were nude, and Claire's body was pressed firmly on top of his, and he knew if he asked her to move, she wouldn't. For a moment, it felt like he was a prisoner. Except it wasn't a bad prison.

Claire kissed him a bit and then frowned once she realized that he wasn't responding. She rolled her eyes, taking Peter's hand and put it on her back. "Peter, Peter," she cried, trying to decide if she should slap him. "Peter?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry Claire," he said, brushing his hand through her hair, "It's just…"

Claire backed away, taking part of the blanket with her to cover her breasts. "No, I understand. I get it, Peter. I get it," she cried, "You still think I'm a kid."

Peter sat up, leaning on his right elbow. "Claire, it isn't that I don't love you, or want you – believe me – I do – but I don't think now is the right time for this to happen," he explained.

Claire glared back at him. "Fine then," she mused, lying back down and scooting over to the other side of the bed.

"Claire?"

"Just go to sleep, Peter," she said coldly.

As much as Claire wanted to sleep, she still couldn't stop thinking about earlier. Maybe Peter was right to stop things before they became serious but at the same time, she knew it wasn't only his decision but hers as well. She was as much involved in this relationship as he was, and if Claire didn't fully trust him, then she wouldn't have been ready to take things to the next step. Peter knew that.

He also knew how confused and lost she was at the moment. Only hours earlier, she'd found her biological father and realized that her adopted dad had been lying to her about her bio parents. If Claude hadn't said anything, Claire might have never found the truth.

Maybe Mr. Bennet never intended to tell her but it didn't matter since she knew now, and had to find a way to reconcile the situation. Now she had two dads in her life, both of whom loved her very much and had reasons to protect her. And she had Peter too…Peter was always there for except, tonight, he wasn't.

No one else knew her the way he did but if the reason why he stopped things was because of her age, Claire should have kicked him out of the bed and out of her room, totally nude. But Claire knew that wasn't the reason why he rejected her. It still hurt her that he did anyway.

Still, Claire couldn't help but wonder if age was a factor between them. Technically, she was still a minor and Peter was in his early twenties. Her dad always warned her about older guys going after young girls, barely out of high school. But Claire knew that Peter was different. He wasn't like that.

Maybe it was the paranoia talking, but somehow Claire felt if they failed to connect on this night, what would be like for them several years down the road? Nothing was certain. Something could still happen.

But the last thing Claire needed was to be separated from her hero because she needed him now, more than ever.

Claire scooted over towards him, wrapped her arms around his chest and kissed his right shoulder blade before closing her eyes.

Peter lazily opened his eyes and noticed Claire's arms wrapped around him and pulled her closer to him.

tbc


	24. Chapter 24

Title: Come What May - CHAPTER 24 OF 30

AUTHOR: obisgirl

Rating: PG-13 (non-incest)

Characters: Peter/Claire

Summary: Five months after Peter "left" with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every day he's gone, Claire begins to doubt that he'll come back.

Spoilers: Company Man

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, just borrowing. All NBC's and Tim Kring's. Please don't sue!

NOTES: First half is beta'd by NYCitygurl, and then by shoduna.

I'm feeling rather generous today, so I thought I'd post the Valentine's Day post of Come What May.

Valentine's Day in New York

Peter smiled, gently running his fingers down Claire's arm as he lay awake the next morning. Streaks of light poured through the curtains, as he caught a glimpse of their reflection in the mirror. Before he dozed off, he thought Claire would be too angry with him to want to be near him but he was mistaken. During the night, he felt her arms wrap around him and she peacefully fell asleep beside him.

He looked at Claire in the mirror; her body was sprawled out over her side of the bed, but one arm still rested across his chest. The scene looked so natural; him waking up beside the woman he loved on a February day.

February.

Peter looked over at the calendar by the mirror, carefully studying it. When he left to train with Claude, it was early November, just before Nathan's election. That was five months ago. Then, he came back about three days ago – that was the tenth. Peter looked over at the calendar again and noticed a pink and red heart scribbled on the 14th.

Peter sat up a bit, looking at his watch. It was 8:30 a.m, February 14th..

Valentine's Day.

Peter turned over, carefully moving Claire's hand off his chest as he propped up his elbow, resting his head on it. "Claire? Claire?" he whispered.

Claire moaned and turned her head over, facing away from him. Peter nudged her again and kissed the back of her neck. "Claire," he whispered again, "Claire, wake up."

He thought he heard her mutter something like, 'it's too early,' and then go back to sleep. Peter grinned and kissed her neck again. "Claire, come on, wake up," he urged.

Finally, Claire turned around and sleepily looked at him, her hair a mess and her eyes half shut. Peter grinned again, fixing her hair. "What is it?" she groaned.

"It's Valentine's Day," he cheered, a sly grin on his face.

Claire lazily looked over at her calendar and her phone, and then back to Peter again. "You woke me up to tell me that it's Valentine's Day?" she questioned.

He nodded. Claire shrugged and went back to sleep. Peter frowned as she made herself more comfortable on the bed. It disappointed Peter that she wasn't as excited that it was Valentine's Day, but he blamed that on the hour of the day. "Claire, Claire," he tried again, "Wake up."

"Unless you plan to serve me breakfast in bed, Peter, I am not moving," she stated.

Peter shrugged. "I could sneak downstairs and grab something for you, but I have a better idea," he said. Claire turned to him, waiting for him to explain what he had planned. "Can you get dressed in ten minutes and then come downstairs?"

Before she could protest, Peter left the bed, got dressed and left the room. Claire sighed, groggily rising from the bed to dress herself.

If she were at home in Odessa right now, her mom and Lyle would have been awake long before she or her dad were, but as it was, the Petrelli household was still very much asleep and she secretly wondered, what with all the trouble going on, why they weren't awake earlier. Claire sighed again as she found Peter, waiting by the foyer.

"Come on," he said, handing her a coat, "We don't have much time."

"Time for what Peter? Where are we going?" she whispered back to him, as Matt awoke in the living room.

He heard the whispers long before they ever spoke as he started walking towards the foyer. Not surprisingly, he found Peter and Claire getting ready to leave the house. "Now, just where are you two going?" he questioned.

Claire looked back at him, and then glanced at Peter.

"For a walk," she said.

Matt nodded. "Yeah right, you were sneaking out," he corrected her, "You weren't even going to talk to your dads this morning about last night."

Claire shrugged. "I will," she offered, "but its Valentine's Day, Matt, and they'll still be here when we get back. I know my dad's not going anywhere until I talk to him, and Claude won't either."

"I'm just going to take Claire around the city," Peter explained, "Its Valentine's Day, man. You should call your wife."

Before Matt could protest, Peter and Claire walked out of the door, and vanished down the block.

Claire couldn't help but grin as she followed Peter down the block; he was very serious about spending their first Valentine's Day as a couple in the city. A couple. It was funny but Claire never thought of them as a couple before, and if anything, they weren't the typical couple. Both of them knew what it was like to have a power they couldn't control, a power that made them different from everyone else. Aside from their little abnormalities though, Claire would definitely say they were a couple, and so in love with each other.

In a crazy mixed up world, Claire knew she could always count on Peter to be there for her when she needed him. He was there for her when she came to his apartment that November day which now seemed like so long ago, and he let her stay with him. He stuck by her, and helped her adjust the best he could. And yet despite their age differences, he understood her better than anyone else; at times, it seemed like he knew her heart better than she did.

Claire had never been in love before but if this is what it meant to find your missing half, the one who completed you, then she knew that Peter Petrelli was her missing half. Her better half. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

She smirked as they stopped at a corner as Peter hailed a taxi. He looked over curiously at the petite blond beside him, and crossed his arms, studying her intently. "What is it?" he asked.

Claire shrugged. "Nothing," she said dreamily, "So where are we going?"

"What do you feel like doing?"

Claire's grin widened as she stared back at him. Peter blushed, and he brushed his bangs away from his eyes. "Claire, the reason why I asked you to get dressed was so we could enjoy a day in the city, not a day in bed," he whispered.

She looked around where they were; they were at an intersection heading towards Broadway. "Well, what do you recommend?" she asked.

Peter looked around himself, and then grinned as a taxi finally pulled up. He let Claire inside first, and then got in himself. "5th Avenue midtown," he directed the driver.

"What's at 5th Avenue midtown?"

"You'll see," he said, leaning back into the seat. Claire shrugged, and snuggled up closer to him.

The taxi dropped the pair off at 5th Avenue. Peter paid the cabbie, and then joined Claire as she looked around at their location. They started to walk towards one of the buildings; Claire thought they would go in, but at the last minute Peter walked away and guided her to a hidden part of the building. She had no idea where he was taking her until they were standing in front of a massive ice-skating ring.

"Surprise," he whispered

"And you think I know how to skate, Peter?" she asked, "There are no ice rinks in Odessa…there isn't even ice!"

He shrugged. "I'll teach you then," he offered, pulling her back towards a small office not far from the rink. There was an attendant standing behind a desk, and a closet full of ice skates. "Two pairs of ice skates please, one adult and one petite," he said.

Claire didn't know what to say, as Peter pulled out a black Amex card, and handed it to the lady. She swiped it, printed the receipt and then went back to the closet, picked two skates and handed them to Peter.

"So, you skate often?" she asked.

"When Nathan and I were kids, Mom used to take us here a lot during the winter," he said, "Here, sit down."

Claire sat down on a nearby bench as Peter kneeled down, putting on her skates and tying up her laces. "Do you still remember how to?" she wondered.

He shrugged. "A little," he offered, "but if we both end up looking like idiots and fall on our butts, at least we know it won't hurt."

Once Peter was done with her skates, he put on his own and the lady behind the desk gave them a box for their walking shoes. Claire giggled as Peter led her towards the rink; he went out on the ice first and glided around a bit before beckoning her to join him.

"Come on!"

Claire walked timidly towards the ice and put down her right foot, her hands holding onto the railing as she put down her other foot. She fumbled a bit but Peter came over, gently taking her hands in his and skated with her.

"Okay, first lesson, pay attention now," he instructed.

Claire blushed and smiled but quickly brushed her embarrassment aside, as Peter took small glides with her. "Slide out one foot, and then bring it back to your heel as you slide out your opposite foot, bringing it back to your other heel," he said, still holding her hands.

Claire did what he said but she slid out her leg to wide, and fell on the ice, laughing hysterically. Peter knelt down beside her, helping her back up.

"I think I should have told you to take small glides," he apologized, "That's okay."

Claire blushed, and Peter's hands moved from her hands to her waist as he stood behind her. "This time take small glides, like baby steps," he offered.

Claire followed his directions, this time, taking smaller glides and, thankfully, after her left foot went out and came back to her heel, she didn't fall, and she continued the same motion with her other leg. Soon, she didn't need Peter beside her but she didn't want to say that to him because she liked him guiding her along.

"Now you're getting it!"

"Only because I have an awesome teacher," she cooed and kissed his cheek.

The couple skated together as a pair for a several more minutes until Peter suggested that they have a race from one side of the ring to the other. Claire accepted the challenge. The two of them skated back to the right end, holding onto the wall as Peter counted off.

"On the count of three – one, two, three!" he cried.

Claire got a head start and skated as fast as she could to the other side, stealing a five-minute lead away from Peter but at the last minute, Peter reached the other end before her. Claire glided into his arms and he caught her.

"That's no fair! You have more experience than me," she cried, "I say we have a rematch."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "A rematch? You're a little competitive, aren't you?" he joked.

"You have the benefit of having lived here your whole life, I haven't and I don't think it's fair that you would take me to a place where there's ice involved when I don't even come from a state that has ice," she said.

He shrugged. "You're right," Peter mused, "We should have a rematch."

Claire grinned, tying back her blond hair. "You are so dead, Petrelli," she teased.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that, Bennet," he teased back. "All right, on the count of three – one…" Claire grinned, playfully glaring at him. "Two, thre –"

Before he could finish the count, Claire darted off on her own, racing as fast she could to the other end. Peter frowned, skating after her. He caught up with her about halfway, and he made a face at her. "Looks like you have been defeated yet again, Bennet," he teased.

Claire stopped skating and then skated as fast as she could towards him, Peter saw her coming. She nearly collided into him, but Peter was ready for her as they both dropped onto the ice. Peter's coat cushioned her fall.

"This is fun," Claire said between giggles, "Thanks Peter."

Peter grinned and turned his body over, so he rested beside her. He brushed her hair aside and leaned down and kissed her. Claire kissed him back, wrapping her arms around him.

Peter couldn't resist kissing Claire for a brief moment, standing alone in the foyer. After leaving Rockefeller Center, he took Claire to a small café for breakfast and ordered some hot cocoa. By the time they got back to the mansion, Claire couldn't stop giggling because of the wonderful day Peter had given her. Ice skating in Rockefeller Center, breakfast at some small restaurant not far away and then snuggling close to him while sipping hot cocoa.

All of these things seemed normal, the type of thing normal people do when they're in love and right now, Claire was so in love with Peter. She kissed him, standing on her tiptoes as he hugged her closely. The day was perfect and the moment would have stayed perfect too if her dad, Claude and Nathan hadn't discovered them.

"Excuse me…" Nathan voiced loudly, as Claire pulled away from Peter, brushing her hair aside. "Where have you two been this morning?"

"More like what have two been doing this morning?" Claude questioned, eyeing Peter.

"We went out," Claire mused, "Peter took me out. It's Valentine's Day."

Nathan nodded, shooting his little brother an icy glare. For a long time, he suspected that there was something going on between him and Claire, and now he wished that he never knew. Peter was too old for a girl like Claire; she should date guys her own age.

Claire looked tentively at her dad. He fixed his glasses, looked briefly at her and then left, going to the kitchen. Claire left Peter's side and went after him, as Claude, Nathan and Peter followed her.

Heidi was just on the phone, calling local hospitals when Claire had come into the kitchen, following her dad. She hung up and hugged the girl. "Oh thank God!" she cried, "When Nathan and I couldn't find you – or Peter – we were so worried."

"Sorry," she apologized and then looked towards her dad. "Peter took me to Rockefeller Center and we skated for about an hour, and then he took me out to breakfast and drank hot cocoa,"

Heidi became teary-eyed and she grinned. "That is sooo sweet," she cried, "Your first outing as a couple!"

"A couple?" Nathan questioned, looking suspiciously at his wife. "Wait a minute, you knew what was going on between these two?"

Heidi shrugged. "Yes, I knew Nathan. Claire told me but made me promise not to say anything to you because you would probably lose it," she said bitterly, "Anyway, they're so sweet together and perfect for each other."

"Oh, how lovely," Claude joked.

At that moment, Matt strolled into the room with a grin on his face but stopped short once he saw Peter and Claire, Nathan, Claire's two dads and Heidi. "Oh good, you're back," he said, as the color in Nathan and Mr. Bennet's face suddenly became a bright red. "All of us were starting to get worried about you two."

"You knew too, Parkman?!" Nathan seethed.

"I knew that they took off early this morning yes," he admitted, "but I arrived late in the game so I know absolutely nothing about far this romance has gone."

Nathan and Mr. Bennet looked back at Heidi, and she shrugged helplessly. "What does it matter anyway?" she questioned, "They love each other, and, if I were to choose the perfect match for Claire, it would be Peter."

"I can't believe this!" Nathan fumed, "He can't be with her because she's too young for him. She's seventeen years old for God's sakes!"

"Almost eighteen actually," Claude corrected, "Her birthday is this summer,"

"Look Nathan, if the only reason you object to my relationship with Claire is because how it will look on you – that's ridiculous. We love each other and Claire…. she completes me," Peter said.

Heidi's eyes misted up again, and she started crying. "That is so beautiful," she cried.

"We know how hard it is on us when we were separated," Peter continued, "I was miserable without Claire by my side, and so was she," Peter looked dreamily at Claire, and he smiled. "I saved the cheerleader Nathan, I had to save her because in the end, she was meant to save me from myself, and she did."

"Damn it Nathan," Heidi cried, "If you break them up now, I'm going to divorce you!"

Nathan scowled, as he looked over at his wife. "You actually support this relationship?" he questioned.

"I do," Mr. Bennet stated as Claire looked thoughtfully at him. "All my life, I always knew one day my little girl would meet someone special, someone who would sweep her off her feet and treat her properly, and love her unconditionally."

Claire smiled. "I love Peter, Dad…"

"I know you do, and I support this."

Claire's face lit up as she happily hugged her dad, and then looked over at Claude. He shrugged as he looked over at Peter. "As long as you don't go 'boom' or break her heart," he said, "Then I support this too."

Claire went over to Claude, and hugged him and kissed his cheek. He smiled as Claire let go and looked pointedly at Nathan. Heidi was also glaring at him. Nathan never felt so cornered and intimidated before. He especially didn't want to anger Heidi, and he knew, if she had any objections to the situation, she would have said something but judging from her constant crying and support for Claire, that didn't seem likely.

"Fine!" he grunted, "As long as the two of you keep things private and low profile. The last thing I need Peter is to hear that the news of the two of you doing something indecent in public, and oh yeah, she's underage."

Claire looked over at him as she held Peter's hand. "Peter and I have already had the sex talk, Nathan" she said, surprising both of her dads'. "And we both decided that we aren't ready for that…yet"

"Or ever," Claude said under his breath.

Peter was taken aback by Claire's comments, considering how things went the previous night but he let it go. Heidi smiled happily. "There, now everything is settled," she said, going over to Claire, "I want to hear everything about your first date with Peter. You said he took you to Rockefeller Center?"

Claire looked back helplessly at Peter as Heidi dragged her off to the kitchen. Peter laughed.

tbc


	25. Chapter 25

Title: Come What May - CHAPTER 25 OF 29  (ORIGINAL COPY!!!!)

AUTHOR: [info]obisgirl

 Rating: PG-13 (non-incest)

 Characters: Peter/Claire

 Summary: Five months after Peter "left" with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every day he's gone, Claire begins to doubt that he'll come back.

 Spoilers: Company Man

 Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, just borrowing. All NBC's and Tim Kring's. Please don't sue! 

NOTES: First half is beta'd by NYCitygurl, and then by shoduna.

After Claire re-capped her date with Peter to Heidi, she managed to slip away and sit alone in the garden. For once, her dads' weren't arguing with each other over what was best for Claire, or who would make a better father. Both of them agreed that it was all right for Claire to be with Peter, although Claire had a sneaking feeling that maybe Claude had his reservations about their relationship. After all, he knew what Peter was like but then again, so did Claire. They complimented each other so well.

Claire twirled a strand of hair around her finger. Now that her dads' and Nathan knew about her and Peter, for the first time, she and Peter were free to show their love for each other in public because they didn't have to hide anymore their feeling for each other in front of their family.

Free to love each other. She could kiss him and not worry that Nathan or her dads' objections. They wouldn't talk down to her about acting indecently.

Peter found her and sat beside her. Claire smiled, entwining her fingers with his. "How did you manage to get away from Heidi?" he asked, "I thought she wanted to know everything that went on during our first date?"

"I told her everything, and she kept on gushing how wonderful it is that you and I found each other, and that destiny definitely knew what it was doing when it put the two of us together," she said and laughed, "Don't you agree?"

"Absolutely,"

Claire hmm'd. "Everything we've been through in the past three days and before you left to train with Claude, it kinda felt like they were trials meant to test how much we loved each other," she reasoned, "I mean, destiny knew that we belonged together but wanted to test us first,"

Peter half-grinned. "That kinda makes sense," he mused, "And the way everything came together – and fell apart,"

Claire looked at him. "Hey, you're ruining the happy moment," she cried.

"Sorry but you have to admit through everything, being reunited with you – there was a lot of bad things going on," he said, "I mean, we may never know if the company had an ulterior motive for kidnapping you other than study, and then there was me confronting Isaac and…."

"Whatever else the company has planned, we'll be ready for them," Claire reasoned, leaning back into his chest. "Oh, my dad is going to be staying in town awhile longer. He's going to be getting an apartment or rent a hotel room," Peter raised an eyebrow. "He's just being protective…I am his little girl after all,"

"And Claude's never going to be too far away, either," he added, "Sounds like your dads' don't exactly trust us being together,"

"They trust us," she affirmed, "My dad finally realized if he goes back to Odessa to quickly, the company might try and kidnap me again. And the Haitian already went back to Odessa to keep an eye on Lyle and my mom…I think my dad also told him to wipe their memories,"

"Does that bother you?"

Claire shrugged. "My brother's mind being wiped, not so much but my mom, yes. That means everything my dad told her, she'll forget about everything and I don't know --- what if one day, she forgets about me?" she cried.

Peter frowned, and gently rubbed her back. "That won't happen," he reasoned, "How could your dad do something to your mom?"

"I don't know; maybe I'm just being paranoid…" she mused, "I felt so alone before Peter and if that happens again, I don't know what I would do. Until you, only my friend Zach knew about you and then there was you, and suddenly I didn't feel alone anymore,"

Peter smiled and brushed his hand on her cheek. "You'll never be alone, Claire," he soothed.

Claire sighed. "Did I ever tell you about my mom's dog, Mr. Muggles?" she asked him.

"No, I don't think you ever have," Peter mused, "Why? Does he have a super power too?"

Claire giggled. "He doesn't. But I think I'm going to miss him, and my mom," she sighed. Peter nodded.

"Coming here to New York to find you, I had to put on hold my search for my biological parents. I found my dad but my biological mom, her whereabouts are still in question," she said and turned to him, "I want to know about her, Peter. Somehow, I have this feeling even though Claude and Thompson said that she's dead – she still might be out there somewhere waiting for me to find her. And I want find her, Peter, and I want you come with me,"

"Then we'll find her," Peter promised, "We'll find her together,"

tbc


	26. Chapter 26

Title: Come What May - CHAPTER 26 OF 29  (ORIGINAL COPY!!!!)

AUTHOR: obisgirl

Rating: PG-13 (non-incest)

Characters: Peter/Claire

Summary: Five months after Peter "left" with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every day he's gone, Claire begins to doubt that he'll come back.

Spoilers: Company Man

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, just borrowing. All NBC's and Tim Kring's. Please don't sue!

NOTES: First half is beta'd by NYCitygurl, and then by shoduna.

Claire sniffled as she held onto her dad, remembering that it wasn't too long ago that she almost lost him. The gunshot to his chest had healed but Claire felt like her heart was breaking. Her dad would never be too far away but somehow, Claire felt like she was saying goodbye to him all over again. She didn't know how much of him she would see in the coming months. He said he would find a place to stay in the city; Angela Petrelli even offered to buy him an apartment not far from the mansion so he could still be close to Claire.

But that wasn't Hank Bennet's style.

Though Claire had to admit, after spending a day in a cold cell with Claude, she was starting to appreciate the spacious Petrelli mansion. It used to be that she would feel so lonely walking down the halls but now; they didn't bother her as much anymore. Especially since Peter would only be living down the hall from her.

"I'll never be too far away, Claire-bear," her dad promised, letting go.

Claire backed away and looked up at him hopefully, tears running down her cheeks. Mr. Bennet wiped away one. Claire sniffled again. "As long as you don't get yourself shot again," she joked solemnly.

"Only when you or Nathan are around," he joked back. "I love you, Claire,"

Claire hugged him again. "I love you dad," she cried.

Mr. Bennet hugged her back, and then let go as Claude stepped forward. Claire smiled at him one more before he went over to talk to Peter. She wandered for a moment what her dad wanted to talk to him about but considering the mood earlier, it was probably a fatherly warning to stay away from the "s" word.

"You know where to find me if you need someone to talk to, love," Claude offered.

Claire smiled, stepped forward and hugged him too. "When I came to New York, I wasn't even expecting to find you," she said, "but I guess destiny knew that I always had you and mom on my mind,"

"I never stopped thinking about you all these years, Claire," he whispered, "You'll always be my girl,"

Claire sighed as she looked up at him. "Some family," she mused, "I have a dad who can make himself invisible and a mom who can control fire,"

Claude turned around and looked over at Peter and Mr. Bennet, then turned his attention back to Claire. "I know you want to look for your mom, Claire but ---,"

"Don't," she pleaded, "I want to know stuff about her but if there were some bad things that happened between you two before you parted ways, I don't want to know about that…yet,"

Claude sighed. "All right," he agreed, "If you ever need anything, Claire…"

"I know where to find you," Claire finished, leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Claude turned back to Mr. Bennet. The two men stared hard at each other; Claire thought for a moment that they would start arguing again. Instead, Claude extended his hand to him and her dad accepted it. "Like I said, I'll never be too far away, Hank," Claude reminded him.

"You don't have to remind me, Claude," he said flatly. "Claire has my cell number,"

"I know, she gave it to me too – except that I don't have a cell phone but I'm sure I can easily find one," Claude surmised and slapped his shoulder. "Happy Father's Day, Hank,"

Hank smiled wryly, bowing, saying, "Happy Father's Day," in Japanese, shocking Claire and the rest of the Petrelli's. Once he realized that he hadn't spoken Japanese in front of Claire before, Mr. Bennet looked over at her and winked.

"I took Japanese in high school," he offered but Claude only laughed, going outside.

Claire went outside too and hugged Claude one more time before he made himself invisible. She didn't know which way he went but before she head back inside she spotted an invisible hand lifting someone's cell phone from their pocket. She shrugged and turned around, facing her other dad.

"This isn't goodbye, Claire," her dad reminded her.

"I know," she mused and hugged him again. "See ya later,"

Peter tenderly kissed Claire's neck as she tried to make her back into her room, to start her research of her biological mom. She had her name, Meredith Gordon, and knew from her dad and Claude that she "died" in a fire but Peter's kisses were making it hard for her to concentrate on that.

"Peter, I need to use my computer so I can start researching my bio-mom," she said as he kissed her neck.

"Do you have to do that right now, though? I mean, you have a lot of time to get started," he pleaded, "Just a few more minutes?"

"I know but this is really important to me, Peter," she said and managed to free herself from his arms, going to her computer.

Peter came in and followed her to the computer. She was about to pull up the death records for Odessa, Texas when Peter spotted an interesting news headline. "Hey, click on that link," he said, pointing to it.

Claire shrugged and clicked on it, pulling up the full story. It read as follows:

Comic Book Artist, Isaac Mendez, died at age 27; Funeral to be held tomorrow

Claire frowned, reading through the title of the article and then looked back at Peter. He was quiet for a long time; he knew he was responsible for Isaac's death and even though he wasn't quite himself when it happened, it still haunted him. "I know I probably shouldn't even suggest this, but I think we should go to the funeral," Claire offered.

"What? Are you crazy?" Peter cried, backing away. "Claire, I killed him…don't you think attending his funeral will be a little weird?"

She shrugged, and swiveled her chair around to face him. "Maybe, but no one else knows that you were the one who did it," she reasoned, "And despite the unfriendly feelings between you two, Peter, we were still friends. He was my friend, and I need to say goodbye to him,"

"I don't know if I can go…"

"You don't have to if you don't want too but I think you need to," Claire mused, "He was like us, Peter. He had an ability, a very strong one to see the future, and I think we owe to him – as his friends – to say goodbye,"

Peter shrugged. "You Claire, maybe," he said, "He liked you although he more than liked you. He was in love with you,"

Claire turned around and read down to the bottom of the story, where it stated when and where the funeral was going to be. "I did love him, Peter," she whispered, "But I only loved him as a friend…I admired his ability too,"

"I could paint the future if I wanted," Peter muttered, feeling somewhat jealous.

Claire smirked. "Yeah, and what would that be like? Stick figures?" she joked. Peter frowned and Claire laughed, going over to him and kissed him. "I'm sorry,"

"Ah! They are stick figures," he admitted, "but I could practice,"

Claire draped her arms around Peter's neck and she smiled. "But I bet they're cute stick figures," she said, "Not the childish, cartoon type though,"

"Cute?" Peter questioned. Claire laughed and then sighed, looking thoughtfully at Peter. He nodded. "All right, I'll attend Isaac's funeral with you,"

"Good," she piped, "We all need some healing, and I was going to drag you with me anyway,"

tbc


	27. Chapter 27

Title: Come What May - CHAPTER 27 OF 29  (ORIGINAL COPY!!!!)

AUTHOR: obisgirl

Rating: PG-13 (non-incest)

Characters: Peter/Claire

Summary: Five months after Peter "left" with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every day he's gone, Claire begins to doubt that he'll come back.

Spoilers: Company Man

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, just borrowing. All NBC's and Tim Kring's. Please don't sue!

NOTES: First half is beta'd by NYCitygurl, and then by shoduna.

Claire stared blankly out of the car window as Peter pulled up to the chapel for Isaac's funeral. Hiro and Ando came along; to pay their respects to the artist, and Nathan and Heidi were following in a separate car. Peter parked the car and got out, looking around the parking lot for Nathan's car but he didn't see it. Claire got out, looked over at Peter and then joined him as Hiro and Ando exited the car.

As the four of them walked into the chapel, Claire noticed a woman greeting everyone, and she smiled at the new visitors. "Welcome," she greeted, "The funeral for Isaac Mendez is inside today and don't forget to sign the guest book before you leave,"

When they got into the chapel, there were already some people sitting down. Claire noticed an open casket in the front, and slowly walked towards it. His hair was neatly combed back and dressed nicely in a black suit. Claire rarely saw Isaac in a suit, and it was an odd picture.

"Goodbye my friend," she whispered, "Wherever you are, I hope you're happy and painting something other than the future,"

"Claire?" Peter called, coming up behind her. "We better take our seats,"

She nodded, and followed him to where Hiro and Ando were. Nathan and Heidi came in a few minutes later and sat nearby. Claire frowned, her head tilted to the side, staring at Isaac's casket.

And suddenly, everything became so clear.

Isaac was dead. Her friends could die. Peter could still die despite her ability, and then one day, she would be the only one left. She could live forever and ever, a new name and identity but she would still be Claire, the indestructible cheerleader. The only one. It made Claire's heart ache even more.

Peter must have sensed her sadness because he grasped her hand and held it in his palm.

The minister came out and greeted the guests. Claire watched him as he said hello to them but stopped and lingered before a young woman, whispering his condolences. She looked over at Peter, and saw that he was intently watching the woman, wondering whom she was. The minister backed away and walked to the lector.

"The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen," he said and then looked out among the pews, as if trying to focus on someone in specific. "Welcome friends and family, we are here to celebrate the life of Isaac Mendez. He was an artist, writer and a dreamer. His stories captivated many and took us on unlikely adventures, following a little Japanese man named Hiro Nakamura,"

"Yes?" Hiro asked, looking up abruptly.

The minister stopped and stared at Hiro, and then shook his head before continuing. "Before I begin the prayers, is there anyone who would like to say something, in remembrance of Isaac?" he asked.

The woman the minister spoke with earlier stood up and went to the podium. She thanked the minister and looked among the pews. Her hair was shoulder length, her skin fair and dark brown eyes. "Hello, and thank you for coming. My name is Theresa Mendez," she started.

"Mendez," Peter breathed and looked at Claire.

"Isaac was my baby brother," she continued, "When we were children, he used to draw on napkins and pretty much anything else he could get his hands on. One Christmas he took me aside and said to me that one day he was going to be an artist and that his work would change the world,"

"I believed in Isaac's art but I thought the idea of art changing the world was a bit far fetched but I didn't want to tell him," Theresa sighed and smiled, "He was a dreamer and I loved him for that,"

The rest of the funeral, Peter and Claire and the other heroes barely heard a word from the minister as all of their thoughts were fixed on Theresa. From their experiences, these abilities ran in families which meant that there was a strong possibility that…

"Are you Claire?" a voice interrupted, pulling Claire out of her thoughts.

She shook her head and looked to the woman in front of her. It was Isaac's sister. "Um yeah, I'm Claire," she verified.

Theresa extended her hand. "I'm very happy to finally meet you, Claire," she said, "Isaac wrote me a lot of letters about you. I knew it was you from his descriptions…he liked you a lot,"

Claire blushed. "I liked him too," she whispered, "He was my friend,"

"If you ask me, I think he more than liked you…but I didn't know you were this young," she said, looking her over, "Were the two of you dating before he died?"

"Dating?" Claire shrieked, "Oh no, Isaac and I – we weren't – I already have a boyfriend," She turned to look for Peter but he was talking with Nathan and Heidi. "Peter. I'm with Peter,"

Theresa looked back to where Peter was standing, and frowned. "Oh, you're with him," she said flatly, "Peter Petrelli. He stole Simone away from Isaac…although I never really liked her either. She was whiny and very needy,"

Claire smiled nervously. "I never really knew Simone actually," she admitted, "I only met her once after coming to New York,"

"Well, it's very good to meet you Claire," Theresa offered and started to walk away but Ando intercepted her.

He smiled broadly, enthralled by this Spanish beauty. "Hello, I am Ando – one of Isaac's friends," he said.

Theresa laughed. "Sorry, Isaac never talked about you in his letters," she said and turned to leave.

"Claire?" Nathan called, coming over to her with Peter in tow. "She talked to you…what did she say? Does she know about Isaac's ability?"

She shrugged. "I don't think so," she observed, "She mentioned that Isaac talked a lot about me in his letters to her, though." Claire looked over at Peter. "She knows about you but I don't think it's a good idea that go anywhere near her in the future,"

"Why not?" he asked.

"Something about you stealing Simone from him before I came along," Claire muttered and glared at him. Peter blushed. Claire smiled and turned around to look for her but she was already gone. "She left?"

Nathan glanced around but didn't see Theresa anywhere; he excused himself and went to talk to the minister.

"So she really doesn't know about her brother's ability?" Peter wandered.

Claire brushed her hair aside and tilted her head. "That's what it looks like," she reasoned as Nathan came back with a piece of paper in hand.

"All right, I have the name of the hotel where she's staying at," he reported, "It's in the city, right in our neighborhood actually,"

"I don't think it's a good idea to bother her about 'this' now. I mean, she just lost her brother and then to bring this craziness into her life – it can be overwhelming," Claire realized, "We should wait a couple of days and then talk to her,"

"But Claire she could be out of the city by then," Nathan added, "Someone needs to talk to her about this as soon as possible. She could have an ability herself but not know about it,"

"If she does then I doubt she'd accept it as readily…I didn't," Claire pointed out, "I still think we should give her some space to be by herself before springing this on her,"

"All right, we'll leave her alone for now but someone has to talk to her later about this," Nathan agreed and handed Claire the piece of paper, "And since she talked to you first, I think you're the best candidate for the job,"

Theresa curiously watched the group from the hallway and then backed away, walking quietly to her car.

tbc


	28. Chapter 28

Title: Come What May - CHAPTER 28 OF 29 

AUTHOR: obisgirl

Rating: PG-13 (non-incest)

Characters: Peter/Claire

Summary: Five months after Peter "left" with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every day he's gone, Claire begins to doubt that he'll come back.

Spoilers: Company Man

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, just borrowing. All NBC's and Tim Kring's. Please don't sue!

NOTES: Chapter 28 & the Epilogue have been beta'd by Alaric.

Claire sighed, feeling conflicted as she neared Isaac's loft. Three days after his funeral and she was still mourning the loss of her friend. At the same time, she was being pressured by Nathan and Peter to go to Theresa and ask her if she had an ability. Claire knew that it was important, but the timing of it didn't feel right. Mostly because it still broke her heart that Isaac was gone. He was her friend and knowing that Peter may have killed him to keep him away from her made her heart ache even more. She still remembered coming into the loft with Nathan, seeing Isaac's dead body on the floor and Peter standing over him in shock. His death was a great loss to all of them, but without him, the future had become dark and uncertain.

Claire sighed again before knocking on the loft door but froze as Theresa opened it suddenly, staring back at her. She actually was not expecting to find her there.

"Hi," she greeted, "I don't know if you remember me..."

"Claire," Theresa managed, "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on you, see how you were doing," she mused, glancing briefly into the loft, noticing several paintings wrapped.

Theresa turned slightly, looking over the wrapped paintings and then back to her. "I've been in here since this morning sorting through them, trying to figure out which ones to keep and which ones I can donate…I figured that Isaac would have wanted his work to be remembered that way,"

Claire nodded slowly, walking into the loft, remembering that the last time she was there, she found Isaac dead. But seeing brown boxes and wrapping paper in places where they hadn't been before made the situation real. Getting through the service was hard enough for her, but to see her friend's work packed up for storage was just too much. Theresa frowned, noting the distressed look on her face.

"Claire, are you all right?"

"He's really gone, isn't he?" she mused.

"He is…it breaks my heart too. He was my baby brother, Claire. I loved him a lot," Theresa admitted, glancing back at the boxes and then to her.

"It looks like you have a lot to go through there," Claire observed, "Would you mind if I give you a hand?"

"Thanks," Theresa smiled, "I'd like that actually," she said, smiling at her before Claire went over to one of the painting racks while Theresa went back to looking through the larger paintings.

The two women barely said anything to each other for an hour until someone started knocking on the door.

Claire got up from where she was to see who it was, and was surprised to see Mohinder. "Mohinder, what are you doing here?" she cried.

"Peter and Nathan told me that you were here and I came by to ask you..."

Before he could finish, Theresa appeared behind Claire suddenly, studying him. "Can I help you?" she wondered.

Mohinder gulped, glancing briefly at Claire and then to Theresa. "I apologize for the intrusion, Ms. Mendez. My name is Doctor Mohinder Suresh...I was a fan of your brother's work," he managed, "He was a very gifted artist."

"Yes, he was," she agreed, looking at Claire. "I don't remember you from the funeral...."

"Mohinder wasn't able to attend because he was tied up with some things," Claire offered.

Theresa turned to her, studying Claire and then looked back at Mohinder. "Well, thank you for coming by to offer your condolences, Dr. Suresh," she said, "If you excuse me, I need to go back to sorting through my brother's paintings."

Claire sighed, watching her leave and go back to her work. Mohinder cleared his throat, forcing Claire to look at him again as he gestured that they go out into the hall to talk. Claire sighed, reluctantly following him. "I take it you weren't able to talk with Theresa about Isaac's ability yet?" he ventured.

"No," she said, "I wanted to when I came over here, but it didn't seem like the right time. She's sorting through her brother's paintings, and it's only been three days since the funeral,"

"I know, but Claire..."

"Mohinder, she just lost her brother," she said bluntly, "Do you really think now is the best time to ask if she has a super ability?" Claire cried, eliciting an exasperated moan from him. He was about to say something but thought better of it. "It was a big shock for me when I discovered my ability...I can't even imagine how Theresa would handle it if she has one."

"But you are going to talk to her about it?" he questioned.

Claire shrugged. "I don't know, Mohinder...she's been through so much. We all have."

"Fine," he agreed, "Isaac's death was a great loss to us all but please, Claire, don't put this off for too long. All of us need to know,"

"I agree," She mused, "And I promise to talk to her about it soon, but not now,"

Mohinder smiled quaintly at her before turning around and leaving. Claire sighed, going back into the loft and to the rack of paintings she had been sorting through earlier. She picked up one of the smaller paintings and then froze, noticing a medium-sized one of Peter holding a gun at Isaac. Claire glanced back in Theresa's direction and then to the painting again.

Claire knew that Peter couldn't have killed him but even so, the painting in front of her showed otherwise. That was why Claire made the decision to hide the painting before continuing to sort through the rest. She glanced in Theresa's briefly to make sure she hadn't seen her hide it, but was so wrapped up in looking at the other paintings to notice her. Claire quietly sighed, hiding it behind a rack. Suddenly, Theresa stood up, looking over at Claire.

"I need to step out for a minute," she said, "Will you be all right here by yourself?"

Claire smiled. "Yeah, I'll be fine,"

"You're welcome to stay for as long as you want,"

"Thanks,"

Claire waited a few moments and then as soon as she was gone, she called Peter's cell and asked him to come over to the loft.

After getting off the phone with him, Claire found some brown paper and wrapped it, writing on the front, "Peter, do not open this!" in case he might have been curious to see what was inside. When Peter arrived, Claire gave him specific instructions to take the painting to the house and put it in her room. He took it without question and teleported back to the mansion.

tbc


	29. Chapter 29

Title: Come What May - CHAPTER 29 OF 29  (Epilogue)

AUTHOR: obisgirl

Rating: PG-13 (non-incest)

Characters: Peter/Claire

Summary: Five months after Peter "left" with Claude, Claire is living in the Petrelli mansion, wishing that Peter would come back to her. But every day he's gone, Claire begins to doubt that he'll come back.

Spoilers: Company Man

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, just borrowing. All NBC's and Tim Kring's. Please don't sue! 

NOTES: Chapter 28 & the Epilogue have been beta'd by Alaric.

Claire panted heavily, facing her target unflinchingly before he struck at her again; she ducked late, though and he hit her left arm. It hurt for a moment and then healed. The next time he hit her, though, she caught the stick with her right hand. The man chuckled, taking it away.

"You're getting better," he complimented, "That's good,"

"My focus is getting better...but I think we need a break," she mused, walking over to pick up her bottle of water. "You, on the other, are getting rusty."

Claude frowned, pointing to himself. "I'm getting rusty?" he retorted, "Trust me, love, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. And your old man's not getting rusty."

Claire smiled, rolling her eyes before she took another sip of water. "Okay," she said flatly, glancing at his watch. "What time is it, by the way?"

"Around 5:30," he mused, "Why?"

"It's 5:30 already? I'm late!" she cried, grabbing her jacket and kissed Claude on the cheek. She thanked him for the work-out and rushed off.

Claire had no idea it was so late -- she just hoped Nathan and Heidi hadn't left the mansion without her. She breathed a sigh of relief though when she saw Peter waiting outside with a car. As soon as he saw her, he smiled, opening the passenger side for her. Claire walked calmly over to him, kissing him before getting in.

"How did training go?" he asked.

"It was good --- my focus is getting better," she mused, "I thought Claude would go easy on me because I'm his daughter, but he hasn't."

Peter smirked. "Good," he teased, "With the way things are going, soon you'll have to start dressing up like Supergirl, rushing into burning buildings and saving people."

Claire shook her head. "I'm all for saving people, Peter, you know that, but there is no way that I'm going to start wearing blue spandex and a red cape," she mused.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind the blue spandex that much," he teased, eliciting a playful punch from Claire.

Thankfully, they arrived at the mansion just as Heidi and Nathan were leaving. "I told you that she would be here," Heidi said.

"You're late," Nathan said as Heidi threw him an angry glare. She knew that Claire wouldn't miss her appointment, but Nathan insisted that he knew that she was going to be late.

"You're not late," Heidi insisted. "We still have a few minutes to spare."

"Thank you Heidi," Claire smiled before glancing at an annoyed Nathan. "I just need to get dressed and then we can go."

Nathan muttered something as Heidi motioned that she go inside and dress quickly. Claire kissed Peter's cheek, thanking him for the ride before rushing inside the mansion and to her room.

"Ride?" Nathan questioned, glaring at his brother. "You gave her a ride? Why didn't you fly?"

"Because you have that 'no flying during the day' rule," Peter reminded him, "Just relax, Nathan. Everything's going to be fine."

"Peter's right," Heidi added as Claire joined them, dressed appropriately. "See."

"Fine," Nathan conceded, "Let's go,"

"Mr. and Mrs. Petrelli," Mrs. James greeted as Claire stood between them, smiling politely at the guidance counselor. She gestured that the three of them sit down. Once settled, Mrs. James looked at Claire, still smiling. "You must be Claire."

"I am," she said.

"Thank you again, Mrs. James, for making time on your busy schedule to meet with us," Heidi added.

"It's no problem at all...So Claire, how far have you gotten in your studies since leaving Odessa?"

"Um," she hesitated, "Actually, I've been too busy with other things to pay full attention to my education."

"Oh, I see," Mrs. James mused, "Moving from one school to another across the country can be difficult. Well, we have two options for you, my dear. You can either enroll now and continue taking classes for the remainder of the year or..."

"What's the second choice?" Claire prompted.

"Audit classes now and then register in the fall for a full semester," she finished.

Claire hesitated a moment. In the beginning, Nathan and Heidi let it slide that she had missed the last half of her junior year because they were all adjusting to her living there.

Even though she wasn't attending school then, she had expressed interest in looking into area schools for the fall semester. Heidi was so happy and quickly left messages with several high school principals.

A couple responded back but unfortunately, because it was so late in the school year, it would be impossible for Claire to attend. Thankfully, there were a few that considered it.

Mrs. Kelly James was one of the first to call back the Petrelli's. Of course, they had to explain why a seventeen-year-old girl like Claire was staying with one of the more prominent New York families, so Heidi said that she was her niece.

"Auditing?" Nathan questioned, "I thought that was something you only did in college?"

Mrs. James laughed. "It used to be, Mr. Petrelli."

"So, if I audit my classes this term, what does that mean?" Claire wandered.

"Well, you wouldn't be penalized if you miss a class or two. You won't even be required to take exams."

Claire glanced at Heidi and Nathan. She preferred to start taking classes in the fall, anyway. Besides, between taking them now and August, she could use that free time to find her biological mother and of course, spend time with Peter.

"Sounds good," she reasoned.

Mrs. Jones smiled. "Excellent, she added, standing up as Heidi, Nathan and Claire followed suit. "Now, if you would like, I have cleared time on my schedule to tour the school."

"Yes, we would like that very much," Heidi replied, much to Claire's dismay. Nathan just smiled, the only polite thing he could think of.

"Wonderful," Mrs. James exclaimed, going to the door, "Please follow me."

Heidi, Claire and Nathan arrived back at the mansion three and a half hours later. The principal, Mrs. James, gave them a full tour of the school. After they were done, she invited them to have some lunch in the cafeteria, but that there was Nathan drew the line. The school they had chosen was a public school, and even though he and Peter had never attended a public school, he had heard horror stories about public school cafeteria food.

The situation was so embarrassing. Nathan wanted to leave but Heidi wanted to stay, saying that the food was a part of the experience. If Claire hadn't said anything, the three of them would still be standing outside of Mrs. James office, watching Nathan and Heidi argue.

With two votes against one, they left the school and returned to the mansion. When they got in, Heidi went upstairs to check up on Monty and Simon, and Claire found Peter lying on the couch, flipping through channels. Claire smiled, sneaking up behind him and kissing him hello. Peter dropped the remote control and turned around, kissing her back.

Nathan stared blankly at the couple, shook his head and then quietly excused himself. The last thing he wanted was to see his brother making out with his younger girlfriend.

"I missed you," Peter cooed, "It's been so quiet around here since you left."

"I missed you too," she mused, kissing him again, coming around the couch and sitting on his lap. Peter couldn't help but grin as Claire relaxed against him. "Nathan and Heidi were about to get into a serious fight in front of the principal's office over public school food."

Peter laughed. "You're joking..."

Claire shrugged. "I wish I was."

He laughed again, unable to picture Nathan and Heidi fighting over food. "Aside from that, how did everything else go?"

"Since it's too late in the school year for me to start attending classes, I'm going to audit instead and then register in the fall for classes."

"That's good."

"It is," she agreed, "Because it frees up this summer."

Peter frowned, looking at her curiously. "What's going on this summer?" he ventured.

Claire smiled. "For one, my birthday in August and two, looking for my biological mother," she reasoned.

"But Claude said..."

"I know what Claude said, but I still want to look for her Peter, and I want you to help me," she continued, "I need answers, Peter, about who I am and where I come from."

Peter understood her desire to find her biological mother but he still remained skeptical that the woman was still around. "What if she's gone, Claire?"

She sighed. "I still need answers," she resolved, "Please Peter, I can't do this alone."

Peter smiled, kissing her forehead. "All right, we'll look for her together. Whatever we find, we'll face it together," he promised. "Come what may."

The End


End file.
